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New York; 

HAPPY HOURS COMPANY, 

No. 1 Chambers Street. 



HOW TO JOIN 



T H E 



CIRCUS 



AND 



GYMNASIUM. 

BY 
TONY DENIER, 

THE CELEBRATED CIRCLS AND PANTOMIME CLOWN. 



I 

WITH HINTS TO AMATEURS AND ADVICE TO PROFESSIONAL PERFORM- 
ERS, WITH PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION IN ALL* 
BRANCHES OF THE BUSINESS. 




NEW YORK: 

HAPPY HOURS COMPANY, 

No. 1 CHAMBERS STREET. 






Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1877, by 

0. A. ROOKBACH, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



THE CIRCUS. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



FROM THE SHOW WHICH PLEASED GEORGE WASHINGTON 
DOWN TO THE DAYS OF BARNUM — GAINING IN GLITTER 
AND LOSING IN SOLID MERIT — PAD RIDING, CALICO 
HORSES, AND OTHER MYSTERIES OF THE SAWDUST 
ARENA. 



The first circus in the United States was run in 1780 by 
a man named Rickets. Definite information as to its or- 
ganization is now of course unattainable, but if reproduced 
at this day, and put in contrast with the enormous circuses 
now competing for public favor, it Svould doubtless be con- 
sidered a very small affair. Such as it was, however, Gen. 
Washington and his staff patronized its performances in 
Philadelphia, and it was deemed quite a high-toned amuse- 
ment for that city in 1780. Two or three years later a 
Frenchman named Boschard was associated in management 
with Rickets, and when the latter died the enterprising 
Gaul for some time had the business all to himself. His 
success encouraged rivals, and several circus companies 
sprang up during the latter part of the last and the begin- 
ning of the present century. It is very doubtful, however, 



4: THE CIRCUS. 

if all combined would have made up a show as big as Bar- 
num's was iu 1875, or if their expenses or receipts during 
the forty years between 1780 and 1820 would have figured 
up as large as those of any one of a dozen circuses of the 
present time for a single season. 

Few people have any idea how very crude a thing the 
American circus was as late as 1828. At that time nine 
horses and seven men constituted a full troupe. The band 
was made up of a hurdy-gurdy, a clarionet, and a bass 
drum ; there was no roof to the ring enclosure ; the largest 
" posters" were about 16 by 44 inches, and their pictorial 
ornamentation was confined to a rude wood cut about six 
inches square, in the centre of the sheet, and painted in 
black ; and performances were rarely given at night, except 
in the very largest towns, where means for feebly illumina- 
ting the ring with candles could be improvised. Gipsy-like 
the circus men of that day went from place to place by 
night, moving altogether by wagons, oft-times startling 
early-arisen villagers into joyous expectation by their white 
canvas fence at break of day ; waking the echoes with a soli- 
tary trumpet's shrill notes, proclaiming that the show had 
come to town ; infuging an* : unwonted excitement into all 
human and animal life in the vicinity by their wondrous 
performances during the afternoon and evening, and with 
the shades of evening folding their tent (only it wasn't a 
tent) like the Arab and quietly stealing away, leaving be- 
hind them as a tangible reminder of vanished joys the ring 
in the earth, where emulous boys would tumble and prance 
and scuffle, until rain and sun and frost had beaten it out of 
sight. 

But there were things then for which the old circus men 
of to-day sigh vainly. The tavern keepers' charges were 
but thirty-seven and a half cents a day for each man, and 
very often even that was remitted, the pleasure of the show- 
man's company being accepted as compensation for their 
entertainment. There was no license to pay ; no ground 
rent was demanded ; one little poster of the sort described 
was generally deemed sufficient for a town ; no costly trap- 



PAST AND PRESENT. O 

pings, costumes, and paraphernalia were expected or re- 
quired ; forage for the horses was cheap ; newspapers were 
few, and what there were did not expect column advertise- 
ments, and the percentage of " dead heads " in the audiences 
was exceedingly small. Merry days those for the circus 
men. 

SIMPLICITY GIVING PLACE TO GORGEOUSNESS. 

In 1830 began to be inaugurated the new order of tilings, 
wherein costly luxury made insidious inroads upon the 
primitive simplicity described. Purdy, Welch & Co.'s 
mammoth show started out upon a scale of such magnifi- 
cence as dwarfed all its predecessors and rivals. It boasted 
twenty-four gray horses, and — a thing until then unheard 
of, and associated in the popular mind with royalty, un- 
bounded wealth, and lavish prodigality — it actually had a 
brass band of eight pieces. It also encouraged a new dig- 
nity on the part of performers. Prior to that time upon the 
accomplished artist who ground the hurdy-gurdy, the 
talented musician who manipulated the bass drum, and the 
distinguished foreigner who blew the clarionette, used to de- 
volve the duty of putting up the canvas, while that inimita- 
ble humorist, the clown, assisted by the dignified ringmas- 
ter, the unequalled tumbler, the world-renowned equestrian, 
and the courteous and enterprising manager, used to wield 
the shovels and rakes for making the ring aud spreading the 
sawdust (when there was any to spread). 

But after a time canvassmen appeared on the scene to do 
all that rough work, and spare the delicacy of feeling of the 
various professional artists. Then, too, to enable the main- 
tenance of such Oriental splendor, the range of performances 
was increased. A tent was substituted for the old-fashioned 
circus fence, that showers might no longer be actual calam- 
ities, and an arrangement was made for lighting it with 
candles on a frame about the centre-pole, so that night per- 
formances might be given. 

From that time on, improvements, new expenses, and at- 
tractions were constantly being added to the circus until it 



b THE CIRCUS. 

was what we see it to-day. How small do Purdy & "Welch's 
twenty-four gray horses, and even their band and tent — 
wondrous in their day — appear now by contrast with such 
a show as that run by Barnum & Co. during the summer of 
1875, in which there were four hundred men and women, one 
hundred and eighty horses, a great museum, and an enor- 
mous menagerie, the combined expenses of which reached 
nearly $5,000 per diem. Why, the poster printing for such 
a show alone costs much more in a single season than the 
entire outfit of several old-time circuses. Barnum in 1875 
had nearly $70,000 worth of colored posters, some of them 
64-sheet bills, the largest known — each just about one hun- 
dred and twenty-eight times as large as the poster w r hich 
filled the wildest desires of the showman of 1828. 

LOST ARTS OF THE RING. 

But if the shell of the circus nut has been more hand- 
somely gilded, it does not follow that the kernel has been 
improved in proportion. On the- contrary, if the judgment 
of some of the oldest circus men in the country be taken as 
authority, there has been a marked decadence in the quality 
of ring sports and the excellence of ring performers in late 
years. At least four of the finest "acts" known in the ring 
have entirely passed away or been supplanted by other and 
inferior ones. 

The " running vaulting," by all the company upon and 
over a free horse going at full speed in the ring, was one of 
these, and few, if any exercises were better calculated to 
display grace and agility than the "lady's vault/' u gentle- 
men's vault," and " round-about vault," practised in this 
performance. C. Bacon, E. Darius, and Cadwallader were 
once famous in this specialty, but now no company attempts 
it. 

The " Spanish trampoline " was another fine old time 
act, now seen no more. It was also a company act, each 
member vaulting over a standing horse from a very high 
spring board — technically known as a " trampoline board" 
— which was taken at a run from an inclined plane. Bob 



PAST AND PRESENT. / 

Lowery, the clown, who died in 1839 down in New Or- 
leans while with Sam Stickney's circus, had the reputation 
of being the best " trampoline " performer of his day. Now 
M battoute " leaping has taken the place of the old act, and 
being lively, has been accepted with favor by the public, 
but professionals do not deem it so graceful or difficult. 
The best leapers of to-day are believed to be William 

Batchelor, Bob Stickney, and O'Brien. Levi J. 

North was in his day a famous vaulter, and went over to 
England in 1838 to compete with Price, who was esteemed 
the English champion. He beat Price, afterward took to 
riding, and it is now mainly as an equestrian that he is re- 
membered. The old timers speak of his riding with posi- 
tive enthusiasm. One of them says : " There never was, 
and there isn't, and there never will be such another rider 
on a horse — one so daring, yet so graceful. Why, he was 
a Fanny Ellsler on horseback, he was." 

HUMAN GYROSCOPES. 

To return to the obsolete acts, "still vaulting " was ano- 
ther. That consisted of backward free somersaults — to ex- 
plain it easily to the non-profossional — upon a small space 
marked out on a level springing board. The performer's 
skill was measured by his grace, and the number of times 
he could thus twirl himself around like a pin-wheel in the 
air. Some performers have claimed to do it one hundred 
times, but their claims are seldom allowed by experts. 
William O. Dale did do it eighty-nine times successively, 
as Frank Whittaker knows, for he counted them, and Tom 
McFarland reached seventy-eight. Now there is probably 
not a single performer in the country who could reach 
twenty-five times, with the possible exception of Nat 
Austin. 

The fourth of the " acts" put away among the lost arts 
is the forming of "pyramids" of men, from seven to eleven 
in number, upon horses in the ring, with flankers, as they 
might be called, of from four to eight men and boys on the 
sides to complete the tableaux. This was not only a very 



8 THE CIRCUS. 

* • 

difficult act, but a dangerous one, simple as it looked, for 
the slightest movement of one of the horses upon which the 
pyramids were formed, or of the " understanders," as the 
first row of men were termed, would inevitably spill in all 
directions all who were above them, and there being no pos 
sible chance for anybody saving himself in this general 
tumble — with sometimes the additional danger of being 
trampled upon by the startled horses — scarcely a perform- 
ance of the pyramids went by without some sprained ankles, 
bloody noses, and contusions. 

Among performers themselves there are no expressions of 
sad regret that " pyramids" are things of the past, for even 
circus men have some tender consideration for their own 
noses and limbs, but the public is certainly the loser, noth- 
ing so good having been substituted in place of this act. 

In all these acts, it will be observed that they call for 
general ability among the company, and for their success 
depend largely upon the excellence and uniformity of train- 
ing of all, and it is in precisely this respect that the system 
of Organization of the circus of to-day is most widely differ- 
ent from that of the olden time. Now a circus troupe is 
made up largely of special performers, some of whom do 
" brother acts/' others pad riding, others tumbling, others 
bare-back riding, others trapeze, or juggling, or "scene," 
riding, or hurdle leaping, or slack rope danciirg, or some- 
thing else for which they have been especially trained, 
while in everything else than the one specialty selected by 
them they are but mediocre, or even poor. Thus the troupe 
is made up of disintegrated parts, like a variety show, and 
well-done, important company acts are no longer practicable. 
Old performers aver that this is not because of any change 
in public taste, but a consequence of the practicable aboli- 
tion of the system of apprenticeships which once obtained. 

THE OLD SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 

It used to be the practice for nearly all first-class per- 
formers to take boys as apprentices, who were bound to 
them for a stipulated length of time, during which they 
were taught leaping, vaulting, somersaulting, riding and 



PAST AND PKESEXT. 'J 

everything else within the range of the teacher's ability. 
These boys, it is claimed, were uniformly treated with kind- 
ness, properly taught, and when they in their turn became 
performers, it was in a business for which they had a nat- 
ural liking and a thorough knowledge. 

Now, very few apprentices are taken, and the ranks are 
recruited from individual performers, who have learned 
their several small parts of the business in gymnasiums or 
private practice, without the beneficial experience of experi- 
mental knowledge of circus discipline, and it is these crude 
and half taught performers, who by their treatment of chil- 
dren bring discredit upon the old, kind-hearted and genuine 
circus men who do not really deserve it. 

THE MECHANIC. 

In the training of pupils for the circus ring now, by sys- 
tematic professionals, injuries are never inflicted. Even in 
teaching them to ride an ingenious appliance known as the 
fJ mechanic " precludes the possibility of dangerous falls. 
The " mechanic " was invented by Mr. Stokes, the man who 
brought out Ella Zoyara, and is simply a strongly braced 
arm standing out from the centre-pole at right angles with 
it, and so arranged that it can easily be moved around the 
ring at any rate of speed desired. Through a little pulley 
at the extremity of this arm a rope is run. At one end of 
this rope is a stout snap-hook which is fastened either to a 
belt about the pupil's waist or to a " harness/' something 
like a combination of suspender braces and belt, which 
some pupils prefer to wear. The other end of the rope is 
held by the teacher. Thus prepared the pupil is mounted 
upon a "pad," or broad, flat saddle, on a horse and started 
moving around the ring. The rope dangles loosely over- 
head, while the pupil practices balancing, turning, jumping, 
&c, &c, and when somersaults are to be attempted is 
drawn off to one side by a thin line attached to it, so as to 
be out of the way, but the instant that the pupil loses bal- 
ance, stumbles, or in any way is about to fall, the quick eye 
of the teacher detects the danger, and his strong hand, pull- 



10 THE CIRCUS. 

ing on the rope, swings the pupil in the air, and lets him 
down safely, while the horse goes galloping on. 

MODERN COLLEGES FOR ACROBATS. 

By such an arrangement at Eaton Stone's handsome pri- 
vate hippodrome — near Franklin station, on the line of the 
Erie road — little Miss Viola Rivers, better known to the 
public as Mile. Viola, one of the most charming and 
accomplished equestriennes of this country, has been 
trained without ever once having had a fall. Her father, 
Richard Rivers, a famous old-time equestrian, has been her 
teacher. 

There are two other private training hippodromes in the 
vicinity of New York, one kept by Barney Carroll at West 
Farms, and the other by J. Cooke at Newtown, L. I., but 
none are or can be more perfect in their appointments than 
Eaton "Stone's. Formerly the performer who owned his 
own horse was an exception to the general rule, and the 
animal so owned was either a trick horse or an especially 
fine one kept by some "star" bare-back rider. Managers 
were expected to furnish pad horses, and even horses 
trained for two and four-horse acts, so that a performer 
going from one troupe to another would always find animals 
ready for him to jump on, and, with a little practice to learn 
their gait and disposition, go before the public with. 

Now, the performer claiming to be first, or even second 
class, who does not own his or her own horse, or several 
horses, is the exception to the rule. Dick Dockrell for in- 
stance, has ten horses. He is a "scene" or "dramatic" 
rider ; that is, he rides acts which involve changes of cos- 
tume, or impersonations of character, and in this line is 
deemed one of the best in the county, while his wife is 
probably the best and most daring female bare-back rider 
in the world. 

WHAT STAR RIDERS ARE PAID. 

James Robinson, who is generally believed to be the 
most dashing and finished bare-back rider now in the ring, 
has six finely-trained horses, and Charlie Fish, who ranks 



PAST AND PRESENT. 11 

next to him in this line, has four or five. The Melville 
brothers, three of them, have six horses, for their several 
acts, Frank is a very fine pad and George a bare-back rider. 
So the list might be extended almost indefinitely. In one 
respect this is a gain to the general excellence of the profes- 
sion, as it enables performers not only to bring their horses 
into higher training for their special lines of business, but 
into more thorough accord and understanding with them- 
selves, an element the importance of which is fully under- 
stood by all equestrians. But the performers themselves 
grumble that their salaries have not increased in propor- 
tion with this added expense to them and lightening of the 
burdens of the manager. They are only employed less 
than half the year, on an average, but during all the other 
portion must maintain their horses and keep them in train- 
ing at their own cost. 

Still -they get very comfortable pay ; James Robinson 
gets $200 per week for himself alone and last season 
(1875) got $450 for himself and two boys. Charles Fish 
gets about $150 ; the Melville brothers, $350 ; Dockrell 
and wife, $300. These are, of course, the largest salaries 
for equestrians, who are the best paid persons about a 
circus below the grade of proprietor, but it may be said 
that the general pay of pad riders runs from $90 to $100 
per week each, and of bare-back riders from $100 to $200, 
according to their individual excellence and popularity and 
the necessities of the management. 

The pad riders generally accepted as the best in the 
country at the present time are, in addition to those men- 
tioned, Ch. F. Reed, Wm. Dutton, Romeo Sebastian, Bob 
Stickney, Mile. Viola (Rivers), Mrs. Burdeau, Mrs. Cook, 
Mme. De Burg, and Mollic Brown. The latter is a daugh- 
ter of Mme. Tournaire, the finest menage equestrienne who 
ever was in this country, and who travelled the season of 
1876 with Montgomery Queen's circus. It would be un- 
gallant to say, or even to insinuate, how many years Mme. 
Tournaire has been one of the queens of the ring, but if 
anybody has any doubts about circus life promoting longe- 



12 THE CIRCUS. 

vity and maintaining a perennial youth, let him hunt .up 
that lady in the ring, gaze upon Frank Whittaker's brown 
locks, and then ask some well-posted old-timer how they 
both date to the nation's birthday. 

THE FIRY, UNTAMED, CIRCUS STEED. 

Some horses can never be broken or trained so as to be 
reliable for service in the ring, while others evince a nat- 
ural aptitude, or perhaps talent for it, and learn very easily 
all that is required of them. Generally it takes from eigh- 
teen months to two years to get a horse so well trained for 
pad riding that he will not shy, or bolt, or break his gait in 
the ring, but will keep steadily on his round, indifferent to 
what is° going on upon his back, or beside him, or even 
under his feet, if the luckless rider happens to tumble there, 
where he has no business to be. In some instances, how- 
ever, horses have been known to work well before an audi- 
ence the very first time they have been put in a ring. 

Generally a horse is educated for but a single service. 
If for pad riding he is kept to that ; if one of two or four 
trained together for the comparatively rare double and 
quadruple acts, he is not allowed to muddle his equine 
brains by striving with a knowledge of hurdle leaping or 
tricks and so on. Generally old horses are best, because 
they have settled into a steady gait, and if they have no 
ingrained vices, are most reliably phlegmatic under extra- 
ordinary but possible circumstances* 

The hallucination pervades many minds that circus men 
have secret and ingenious ways of frescoing their remarka- 
ble calico horses, using walnut juice and other compounds 
to dye patches on milk-white steeds until the parti-colored 
effects are obtained. This is an error, however. They 
buy up horses which, like the darkey in the minstrel story, 
are " not colored, but born that way." No special breed of 
horses produces these freaks of color, but the finer bloods, 
it is said, seldom show them. " We recruit from dunghill 
stock," says an old circus man, " and why they come that 
way we can't tell, any more'n Jim Fisk could answer his 
own conundrum, ' Why God makes the little apples grow.' * 



CONTENTS. 



•:o: 



PAGE. 

INTRODUCTORY, ------- 15 

FREE MOVEMENTS, -------21 

BALANCING WITH CHAIRS, - - - . - 28 

BALANCING, 33 

CLIMBING, ETC., 35 

THE VAULTING HORSE, ------ 38 

TUMBLING, SOMERSAULT THROWING, ETC., - 45 

THE PARALLEL BARS, 52 

ON THE HORIZONTAL BAR, ' . 60 

ZAMP1LLAEROSTATION, OR FLYING TRAPEZE, - - 83 

HORSEBACK RIDING, ------ 99 

APPENDIX,. -- 102 



INTRODUCTORY 



■:o:- 



" THAT WHICH PLEASES LONG, AND PLEASES MANY, MUST 

possess some merit." — Dr. Johnson. 

A staid, decorous, elderly friend of mine, came into my 
gymnasium one day, as the members were in the height of 
their enjoyment, revolving around the horizontal bar at 
arms length, others were sitting on the bar, and continually 
falling backwards, passing under and coming up again to 
their original position, some were turning somersaults, flip- 
flaps and handsprings, some jumping the wooden horse, 
others climbing and all engaged in the most picturesque 
and graceful, as well as strengthening and health giving 
performances ; instead of being struck with respectful ad- 
miration, he asked in rather a derogatory manner, ' What 
is the good of it all?' And thus those who have never 
given any attention to gymnastics are totally unable to see 
any use in it ; whereas, if they would only begin with a 
little gentle practice, a liking for it would be induced and 
in time they would feel the great benefit arising from it. 

The gynastic art consists in regulating the voluntary 
motions of the body, and giving them more strength and 
precision. The immediate effect is an increase both in size 



16 INTRODUCTORY. 

and power of the parts exercised, in consequence of an ad- 
mirable law which obtains- in living bodies, that (within 
certain limits) in proportion to the exertion which is re- 
quired to be made, a part increases, not only in strength 
and fitness, but also in size. If, then, bodily exercises are 
neglected, as they too often are by those who follow a se- 
dentary occupation, the ill effects are soon exhibited, not 
only by people who are employed indoors but by others 
who neglect to take some active exercise in their leisure 

hours. 

It has been an object of common remark that nearly all 
classes of the community have more or less contracted 
habits of stooping or other species of distortion. A per- 
fectly upright, erect form is rare, whilst among the masses, 
scarcely a thought is bestowed upon health, elegance, or 
beauty. There have been but few amongst the brain 
worked, desk-tired, indoor toilers and students of the present 
day who have not from time to time unfavorably compared 
their capacity for work in middle age, with their younger 
and more active days, when work began pleasantly ana* was 
carried forward with enjoyment. They are apt to look 
upon those days as either gone forever, or only replaced by 
an expenditure of time and money which they know too 
well it is vain to think of, or sigh for. To such as these 
gymnastic exercises will be invaluable. They will soon be- 
come pleasant, whilst the result will be, to many, astonish- 
ing. 

And here let me say a few words as to the supposed 
dangers of gymnastics. Now we have sometimes been told 
that we must not attempt certain performances, because 
they are fraught with danger, and so on ; but the danger 



INTRODUCTORY. 17 

really consists in endeavoring to perform them without 
sufficient previous practice, and upon apparatus constructed 
in such a manner as to render it almost impossible to exe- 
cute the simplest movements with safety ; in which case 
accidents will of course occur, in the same manner as they 
do in learning swimming, WTestling, fencing, base ball, or 
other manly exercises. All athletic sports and games of 
this description are dangerous to those who commence inju- 
diciously, and without accustoming themselves to the pre. 
liminary exercise of them. 

Now the practised gymnasts whom we have seen going 
through their elaborate and finished performances, with an 
entire freedom from accident, have attained to this degree 
of excellence by practice on apparatus constructed by those 
who thoroughly understand the use of it ; and as without 
proper appliances, it is almost impossible to improve, so it 
is not to be wondered at that a liking for gymnastic exer- 
cises has been so long in taking root in this country. And 
here let us observe that gymnastics is perhaps the least sel- 
fish occupation of the kind we can engage in, as there is 
" something for all," and we may see youths busily practis- 
ing light exercises suitable to their powers, as well as stal- 
wart men engaged in feats requiring the greatest amount 
of strength. 

My object, therefore, is to give a description, in a plain 
and practical manner of the various performances which 
may be executed on the horizontal bar, the parallels, the 
vaulting horse, flying trapeze, &c, some of which are en- 
tirely of modern origin, having been in use but a very few 
years, and in the exercises on which almost every one of 
fair average strength and agility may, with even moderate 



18 INTRODUCTORY. 

perseverance, attain excellence. Therefore, I shall devote 
the principal portion of this work to gymnastics which are 
rather more advanced, and which excite a greater amount 
of interest in their performance. And also because some 
of the first movements on the apparatus are so simple and 
easy, that they will require no preliminary drill whatever, 
and may be gone through by those who have never seen 
any gymnastic exercises at all, if there are any such be- 
nighted individuals. 

The true method of practising gymnastics is, to commence 
each one with a suitable and gentle exercise, increasing in 
difficulty in regular degree, according to the strength and 
agility of the learner ; always taking care not to confine 
himself to movements w T hich only exercise one set of mus- 
cles, but by the use of different apparatus to bring all parts 
of the frame into play; and though, of course, all cannot 
expect to attain to the accomplishment of the most difficult 
feats, yet we may depend upon it, that there is no one, from 
boys whose powers are not yet developed, to elderly per- 
sons whose strength is on the wane, if they possess an aver- 
age amount of muscle, but would find themselves greatly 
benefitted by a course of suitable and judiciously directed 
gymnastics. 

And we must also bear in mind, that these exercises may 
be made very attractive, especially to the young, as boys 
in health have a natural liking for all kinds of active mo. 
tion, such as climbing, &c, and thus, although perhaps the 
motive to these exertions may be only emulation, or the 
wish to perform certain feats of more or less difficulty, the 
result must be, under judicious direction, very beneficial. 

I remember on one occasion, having been engaged in 



INTRODUCTORY. 19 

superintending the erection of some apparatus at a large 
school near the metropolis, and the boys seeing me examin- 
ing it in company with the gymnastic instructor, to make 
sure that it was securely put up, and they knowing me to 
be a gymnast, requested me to oblige them with a specimen 
of what could be done in that way. This of course I im- 
mediately did, and showed them a few of the advanced 
exercises on the horizontal bar and parallels, to the im- 
mense delight of the pupils, but also to the intense horror 
of the instructor, who considered them too dangerous for 
them to attempt. When I had finished, the boys came 
thronging around me, and asked me to teach them these 
amusing exercises, and I showed them the way to do two 
or three which I considered most suitable for their powers, 
and several of them proved such apt scholars, that they 
could perform them before I left. 

Now mark the result ! About three weeks afterwards I 
had occasion to go there again, when rather to my sur- 
prise, I found that nearly all the boys could perform the 
feats I had shown them on the previous occasion ; and they 
begged me to show them some more of my * bully exer- 
cises," as they somewhat irreverently termed them, saying, 
"oh! there is no amusement in what our instructor shows 
us, stupid hand over hand exercises on the bar ; really we 
begin to think he cannot do anything else." 

And therefore I strongly advise instructors of gymnas- 
tics to bear always in mind the importance of rousing the 
interest of young beginners, by setting them, as soon as 
possible, consistent with safety, to exercises which keep 
their attention alive, thus giving them something to amuse 
them while they are practising. As I told you, my prin- 



20 INTRODUCTORY. 

cipal object in this work is not to show you what you 
can do already, but to bring before you those advanced' 
exercises which you are anxious to learn. I now suppose 
you to have gone through the elementary exercises, that is, 
you can walk, run, jump, climb a rope or pole, and, in 
fact, do what almost any young man in good health and of 
average strength can perform. 

Now I wish you to understand that all the exercises I 
am about to describe to you, I have often performed my- 
self, and I am acquainted with many performers and ama- 
teurs who can do them quite as well, and some better. 
And I repeat, in concluding these introductory remarks, 
let me say that, without undervaluing general manly exer- 
cises or calisthenics, I address myself more particularly to 
those who require something further, and who, having seen 
these performances, wish to learn how to do them ; and to 
them I offer this work, feeling sure that, as this is the first 
attempt to bring advanced gymnastics before the public, 
any shortcomings that may be observed will be pardoned 
for the sake of the intention. In conclusion let me say that 
any person becoming proficient in the following exercises, 
has only to go to a circus manager, and show him what he 
can do, and with his knowledge of gymnastics, and the aid 
of the mechanic, (explained in the first article) he can soon 
become an adept as a circus rider, and the manager as he 
watches his progress will gladly advertise him to the height 
of his ambition and willingly pay him a most liberal salary 
for his services. 

The Public's Servant, 

Tony Denier, 

Circits and Pantomime Clown and Professor of Gymnastics, 



HOW TO JOIN A CIECUS. 



CHAPTER I 



FREE MOVEMENTS 



These movements may be practised on a hard mattrass 
ov what is much better, on the floor ; the first exercise 
is to lay yourself on your back, keep the body stiff and 
let your arms lie close to your side, legs and heels to lie 
in the same line. Now, without moving the lower limbs, 
raise the body perpendicularly from the hips upwards, if 
you cannot get up the first time lie down and try again, 
then cross your arms over your breast, and " try again," 
clasp the hands over the head, and raise the body as 
before, keeping the arms on a line with the shoulders. 
When your back will bear the strain, endeavor to raise 
the lower extremities so as to touch the mattrass behind 
or above your head, this is not at all difficult, and is 
excellent practice for the posterior muscles of the human 
frame. 



22 how to join a Circus. 

For the next exercise, turn your face downwards, and 
extend the body longitudinally, supporting yourself by the 
toes and the strength of your arms, the hands must be 
turned inward, the fingers pointing towards each other. 
Now allow the body to sink slowly, bending the arms 
gently, still keeping the body extended, without permitting 
the stomach to rest, touch the fingers with the lips and 
slowly return to first position, deliberately repeat the move- 
ment again and again. 

Fig. 1- 




On rising from the bed, lower the upper sashes of your 
bed-room windows, place yourself in an erect posture, 
throw your chest forward, and your shoulders back, now 
take a long inspiration, purse up the lips and draw in 
all the air you can, inhale nature's universal medium, 
the common air, so as to fully inflate the lungs, now throw 
your arms behind you, holding your breath as long as 
possible, and repeat to or three times, now for sponge or 
what is better, a shower bath, rub yourself dry with a 
coarse towel, until you are tired, do not be afraid of a 
little friction, or that you will rub the skin off. Before 
the gymnast proceeds further, a draught of water and a 
crust of bread will materially assist him in his morning 
exercise, he may then try a very simple movement. 



how to join a circus. 23 

Fig. 2. 




The body is placed in an upright position, with the feet 
together, the arms extended, and the body thrown on al- 
ternate sides, (as shown in the above diagram) until the 
hand nearly touches the floor, this exercise may be con- 
tinued without any waste of force and may be varied 
according to the strength of the pupil. By this time he 
will have acquired a knowledge of what muscles he has, 
and of some of the uses he can put them to, simple as 
the exercises have been it will be found that some of the 
muscles have become stiff and are not easily moved, yet 
it will soon wear off, and he will afterwards rejoice in the 
freedom of his limbs. 

He may now proceed to the " extension " movements. 
Place the feet close together with the toes across a straight 
line, so as to mark the situation of the feet ; the hands 
held down to the side, then raise them quickly above the 
head, and bring them forcibly and energetically dowu again,' 
close the hands with the palm upwards, then bring the 



24 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 

fists up close to the shoulders, drive the arms out sideways, 
then bring them back in the same way, until the hands are 
close to the sides again, repeat each movement again and 
again — up, down, forward, backward. This exercise is 
useful to young and old, and possesses the advantage of 
your being able to resort to it in all times and places, 
and brings into play the thoracic, dorsal, and abdominal 
muscles. 

Now standing as before, stretch out the hands straight 
at the shoulders in front of the body and place the palms 
of the hands together. Now slowly separate the hands, 
keep them at the same level, with the arms straight, and 
try to make the backs of the hands meet behind you. 
This, to all, at the commencement, seems to be impossi- 
ble ; yet, as the chest expands, it becomes perfectly easy, 
though at first it will make the chest and shoulders rather 
stiff. 

You may now try the circular movement, or revolving 
the arms round and round like a windmill, which is one 
of the best methods of enlarging the capacity of the air 
cells of the lungs. 

Amongst the old "extension" motions taught to our 
soldiers, are two which find an appropriate place here. 
The first practice is to stand upright, with the heels to- 
gether, raise the arms straight upwards, the palms in 
front, bend the body forwards as shown in the annexed 
sketch, until the fingers touch the ground ; the knees must be 
kept straight. This must be practised until a coin can be 
picked up with ease at each heel. The next practice w r as to 
take a staff or stick about three and a half feet long, grasp 
each end firmly over by the hands, with the ends of the fin- 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 25 

Fig. 3. 




gers towards the body, now raise the stick over the head, 
keeping the elbows straight and hands firm, until the 
stick touches the back of the thighs, this is a severe but 
very excellent exercise, and can be accomplished with per- 
severance. 

Strengthen the toes by raising the bmly on them with 
a stiff leg and straight knees, as high as possible, do it 
slowly and repeat ; vary it some by stepping from the toes, 
jumping from the toes, keeping the knees straight and the 
body upright as you stand upright, lift the left foot behind, 
bend the right knee and lower the body gradually until you 
touch the ground with the left knee, rise again, doing it 
alternately with each leg. Extend the right arm from 
the body and with the right foot attempt to kick the ex- 
tended hand, you will probably fail in the first attempt, 
but it may be done with each foot and hand successively, 
then attempt to kick the back of the thighs with the heels, 
alternately and rapidly, then try to knock the chest with 
the knee, keep the body upright and do not bend the chest 
forward, when proficient in these exercises, try to kick 



26 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

both thighs with both heels together, to perform which 
a slight spring will be necessary, bring both feet to the 
same spot you started from and do not lose your balance. 
Place both feet together, with the hands on the hips, 
kneel slowly till both knees touch the ground, then rise 
again slowly, without moving the toes or the hands, you 
may vary this by crossing the toes, bending the knees 
slowly until you sit down, like the Turks are supposed 
to sit, rise again without moving the hands from the hips, 
repeat this and thank your stars you were not born a Turk ; 
you may probably have a fall before you succeed in doing 
this correctly. Then stand up, extend you arms in front, 
raise the right leg in front, bend the left knee gradually 
and sit down in that position, alternately with both legs, 
this at first will seem to you impossible, but with practice 

Fig. 4. 




you will find it not near so hard as it seems. This is a 
very pleasant amusement for young and old, and if done 
properly, it is said, calls into play three hundred muscles of 
the body. 

Now place the feet close together, the hands on the hips, 
rise on the toes, bend the knees and lower the body grad- 
ually until the thighs touch the heels. Then extend your 



now TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 27 

arms forward and fall in front, not on your nose but on 
your hands and toes, keep the knees straight and body 
stiff as in figure 1, take a piece of chalk in the right hand, 
reach out and make a mark as far as you can, then let 
your companions try to excel you in the distance marked, 
come back to your original position with a spring from 
the hand. 

Stand with your feet close together, jump up, spread the 
legs and close them before alighting, keeping the toes 
pointed and the hands on the hips. 

Jump through the hands while held in front of the body, 
ivith the tips of the- fingers together, this is a pleasant 
exercise, but be careful that your knees do not strike your 
shin and make it unpleasant, wear pumps tor this, as 
leels are liable to catch, or take a stick in the hands 
loldicg them a yard apart, stooping down place your 
aiuckles of the closed hands on the ground before you, 
hen try to step over the stick, without losing your hold 
>r the hands from the ground. 

Combination exercises : Two persons may sit down on 
he floor facing each other, with the soles of their feet 
ouching, then grasp a stick with the hands together and 
>ull against each other, alternately bending backwards, 
irst with the knees stiff, second with them bending and 
oose and thirdly with the legs spread apart. Another is 
o stand up, with toes together, then taking hold of each 
>thers hands lean back and go quickly round. A third 
txercise with two persons is to place the left hand on the 
tips, with the right foot forward, lock the middle finger of 
ach right hand and pull backwards and forwards. 

Minor variations of these free movements and parlor 



28 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

gymnastics suggest themselves, particularly if any part 
of the body is not exercised by the daily avocations. Either 
arm may be advanced, and the hands turned inwards, up- 
wards and outwards. Sub rotary and various twisting 
motions of the body may be performed, the head may be 
turned and twisted, and carried from side to side, the body 
turned partly round at the loins, or one leg held stationary 
and the other moved round as far as possible on both sides. 
A system of free movements by the aid of companions may 
be carried out. The exercises may be varied in many 
>va y S — such as jumping over joined hands, by one placing 
a hand on the shoulder of each companion, and returning 
by a backward somersault ; he may be greatly assisted by 
his companions during the leap. 

The majority of these exercises are well adapted for 
schools and may be performed by a large number at the 
word of command. And every one of these movements 
can be done in a parlor, bed-room or study. 



CHAPTER II. 

BALANCING WITH CHAIRS. 

Previous to commencing with the regular gymnastic 
apparatus, let us describe a means of domestic practice 
eminently adapted for the sedentary. Place yourself be- 
tween two chairs (which must be of the strong kitchen 
variety), the seats turned outwards, place a hand on the 
back of each chair, rest the whole weight of the body on 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 



29 



the wrists, keeping the arms extended, and raise the body 
(see figure 5). This position must be preserved for some 

Fig. 5. 




time, then allow the body to descend and return to your 
first position, then supporting the body as in the first posi- 
tion, bend the knees and descend gradually until the knees 

Fig. 6. Fig. 7. 

IK 





touch the ground (fig. 6), then rise in the same manner by 
the aid of the shoulders and wrists to first position. Then 



30 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



place the chairs with the seats inwards, about eighteen 
inches apart, place the hands on each edge, the thumbs 
inwards, the feet close together, the knees bent and the 
heels raised, then lift the body by the wrists, lowering and 
raising, then extend forwards the lower extremities, at the 
same time straightening them and thus lower yourself 
gently to the ground (fig. 7), rise again in the same manner 
and return as you were. 

Now place two chairs, one with the back turned inward, 
the other with the back turned out, put the right hand on 
the back of one and the left hand on the seat of the other, 
raise the legs as high as possible and extend them in front, 
the body to remain perpendicular, then raise yourself bear- 
ing the whole weight of the body on the left wrist, and 

Fig. 8. 




place both legs on the back of the chair and down again 
with a regular swinging motion and repeat the same on 
the other side (fig. 8). 

Place a chair firmly on the ground, then place both hands 
on the sides of the back, raise the body on the wrists and 
elevate the Hmbs and body in a horizontal line (fig. 9), 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 



31 



Fig. 9. 




then allow the legs to gradually descend to first position, 
you may vary this by extending the whole of the body in 
a horizontal line and seizing the seat with both hands try 
to jump the chair across the room, this is rather hard at 
first, but can be done with practice. 

Place two chairs with the seats inwards, put the right 
foot between them, the left knee to ba bent, place both 

Fig. 10. 




hands on the edges of the chairs and support the body with 
the right knee on the edge of the chair, then endeavor 
to kiss the floor by extending the left leg and allowing the 
right to go to the floor (fig. 10), return to first position by 



32 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



a contrary movement, and repeat the exercise by reversing 
the support of the legs. 

Take an old-fashioned arm-chair, placing yourself facing 
the seat, with a hand on each arm of the chair, and raise 
the body, at the same time raising and crossing the legs, 
pass them forward between the arms, straighten them over 
the back of the chair without touching it, then bring them 
back to where you stood at the commencement and repeat 



Fig. 11. 



Fig. 12. 





it until the muscles are strengthened, when you can then 
accomplish it with ease (fig. 11). 

On a common bench or form stand upright, the toes close 

Fig. 13. 




together near the edge, then allow the body to descend 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 33 

gradually by bending the knees and supporting its weight 
upon them, rise up and repeat several times (fig. 1*2) ; 
place each hand on the outer edge of the bench, with the 
elbows bent and held close to the body which is thrown 
forward and the legs elevated to a horizontal position 
(fig. 13). 



CHAPTER III. 

BALANCING. 

This very necessary and essential feature in gymnastics 
is the preservation of the equilibrium, called balancing. 
If we try to balance with one hand a small stick, a feather 
or other object, we find how easy it is, by a little judicious 
arrangement of a few dexterous movements to prevent it 
falling. If we apply the same faculties to the body, we 
acquire hardihood, presence of mind and justness of eye, 
and a readiness at avoiding a fall. 

In exercising one's self in balancing, it is the best to 
commence standing on one leg alternately until it can be 
done with ease. When a man stands in an ordinary posi- 
tion, the centre of gravity passes down the spine between 
the feet, and of course every movement of the body changes 
the centre of gravity ; it is never fixed. The body bends 
forward on one side according to the weight it bears on 
the other. A pole is used by professional rope dancers or 
balancers, while the Japanese use an umbrella and a fan, 
though some of the best feats are to be done by the mere 
use of the arms and body, without any mechanical help 
whatever. 



34 



HOW TO JOIN A CIIICUS, 



After a steady balance can be kept on one leg on the 
ground, you may then try the same on the edge of a brick, 
or a pole lying on the ground, which it will be best to ac- 
complish before mounting the parallel or horizontal bar. 
There are several ways of mounting a bar if it is placed no 
higher than the knee or thigh, place one foot on it, with the 
hands extended in front and gradually raise the body until 
you can stand upright on the bar. Another method is to 
sit astride on the bar and with a jumping spring bring both 
feet on to the bar at once, with the feet placed crosswise 
on the bar at the heels, then quickly raise the body to an 

Fig. 14. 




upright position, with the same motion and keep on doin^ 
it until you can stand there as securely as if you were 
terra firma. 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 35 



CHAPTER IV. 

* 

CLIMBING, ETC. 

Climbing the rope is a very useful exercise, which 
should be practised by every one, as it may often be the 
means of saving life in cases of fire and shipwreck. I 
mean climbing by the use of both legs and arms, it is com- 
paratively easy to climb a knotted rope or one in which 
short crosspieces are inserted, but the true gymnast despises 
such aid and pulls himself up by his hands alone ; but ere 
he can attain this dexterity he must make use of his feet 
somewhat. A sailor passes the rope from the hands be- 
tween his -thighs, twists it round one leg, just below the 
knee and over the instep, the other foot presses on the rope, 
by which a firm hold is secured. When descending beware 
of letting the rope through the hands to quickly or the skin 
will be torn from the flesh, put one hand under another, 
and letting go the upper hand support the body with the 
lower hand and thus slide gently down. Some of our 
clever gymnasts slide head downwards and this is by no 
means difficult when you have acquired the knack of hold- 
ing the rope by the feet. 

Climbing the pole, either hanging loosely from above, or 
fixed, only varies from the same exercise on the rope, by its 
being rather more difficult to grasp from being thicker and 
also rigid ; grasp it with both hands, the right above the 
left, the legs should alternately grasp the pole in the ascent 
by means of the legs being crossed and held by the back 
of one foot and the front of the other, in the descent be 
careful not to come down too fast, the friction must be 



36 



llOVT TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 



thrown on the inner part of the thighs and the hands left 
comparatively free (fig. 15). 

Fig. 15. 



Place a stout board at an angle of 40° to 50° against 
the wall, then with the hands seize both sides of the board 
and placing the feet flat in the centre of the board, slowly 
ascend by moving the hands and feet alternately ; you will 
find this exercise very beneficial to the extensor muscles as 
well as by the stress on the loins and back will they be- 
come strengthened. You may ascend a pole the same way 
by rubbing the shoes in a little powdered rosin. You can 
also elevate a ladder the same way, ascending by grasping 
the rungs alternately underneath, pulling the body up close 
to the elbow and hanging thus previously to raising the 
body by the other arm, keeping the legs straightened and 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 37 

close together. You may also ascend a ladder placed in a 
perpendicular position with the hands on one rung and the 
feet on the next one underneath, with the body bent hori 
zontally from the ladder, but this must be commenced on 
rungs much farther apart, gradually closing them up as you 
progress. On a ladder placed horizontally, high enough to 
make you take a good jump to catch hold of it ; then walk 
along under the ladder by holding by the hands and leaving 
go one hand advance one rung by swinging the body forward 
as the hand grasps the rung in advance, and increasing the 
length to as far as you can reach ; another good exercise 
is to place both hands on the outside of the ladder and by 
a jumping motion of the body and hands propel yourself 
along. 

Jumping is also a very good exercise and one very pro- 
vocative of emulation when several join in it, and may be 
practised by jumping over a line suspended over pins in 
holes in two standards, beginning very low and increasing 
the height by raising the pins every time the former height 
is accomplished. Jumping with a pole consists in seizing 
a pole about six or eight feet from the bottom and taking 
a run stick the lower end of the pole in the ground in front 
of you, at the same time taking a leap forward you will 
ride up on the pole, and leaving the pole to fall backwards 
when you are at the highest point you will be surprised 
at the height or length of the leap you have made, a pole 
about ten feet long is the best to commence with, although 
professional jumpers in the Scottish games use them fifteen 
and sixteen feet ; this is a useful accomplishment in leaping 
ditches, fences and even in crossing narrow rivers. 

There are also many other exercises that I could mention, 



38 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

such as Indian clubs and dumb bells, the sand-bag and 
health lift, and a course of exercise with any of them will 
be found very beneficial by those who have no opportunity 
of practising on other apparatus, but let me caution you 
against the use of heavy weights in the first practice, com- 
mence easy at first, and increase as you progress. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE VAULTING HORSE 



Perhaps this is the most neglected of any gymnastic 
apparatus in use in this country, the reason is they do not 
have them properly made, and the students often hurt 
themselves and then give up the exercise altogether, and 
it is to be regretted as some of the most amusing and ex- 
citing feats may be performed on it by the class in rotation. 
The sketch No. 16 will give a view of a correct vaulting 
horse as it should be made and I will also give you a de- 
tailed description of the same. 

There are various lengths these horses can be made, 
but the most useful and those in use in the Paris gym- 
nasiums are sixteen inches across the back and six feet 
long, they are evenly padded with horsehair and covered 
all over with a dressed cow-hide, the smooth part of the 
leather being on the outside, and is made with one end 
smaller and raised, corresponding to the neck of the horse, 
and this gives it its form and is useful as a mark where 
the hands should be placed. Two pommels (or saddle) 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



39 



are placed about eighteen inches apart in the centre, in a 
groove and raised up from the back of the horse about 
four inches from the centre, with two dowels to keep them 
in place, and left loose, so that flush pommels may be 
placed in their stead, to be used when required. The 
legs must be made to slide up and down in the manner 
of a telescope, so that the horse may be used at heights 

Fig. 16. 




varying from three feet, six inches to six feet. For a 
"beat" off, which is very necessary to mark the place to 
place the feet when doing any long jumps, get a solid piece 
of wood about two feet, six inches square and rising in 
thickness from a quarter of an inch to four inches, placing 
it near to or far from the horse as required. 



40 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

There are a number of exercises on the vaulting horse 
that have a great similarity to the same exercises on the 
parallel bars, so I shall only instruct you in the exercises 
that have a distinctive character, belonging to the vaulting 
horse. 

So to commence jump on the horse with the hands on 
the pommels supporting the whole weight of the body, the 
legs hanging straight down as in Fig. 16. Now bring 
your legs over the body of the horse, in between the pom- 
mels, and bring them back again, then bring one leg 
through the hands and back again and repeat with the 
other leg alternately without letting the foot touch the 
horse. Now try to change the legs simultaneously, that 
is, while one is being brought forward, the other is to 
be withdrawn, the body still supported by the arms. 

The knee jump is the next exercise and is performed 
in the following manner ; raise yourself on to the horse 
as in figure 16, and then bring both legs into a kneeling 
position on the back, then give a good spring up assisted by 
throwing up the arms, then throw out your feet and you 
will land on the other side of the horse on your feet ; you 
had better get some one to assist you in this at first as 
fear may bring you to grief. To jump through the hands 
lower the horse as far as possible, placing the board to 
jump on about a foot from the horse, run and jump on 
to the board with both feet down at once, flat-footed, then 
spring off the toes, (as you will find you will have to do 
in all jumping movements, as if you alight on the toes all 
your springing power is gone), with your hands one on 
each pommel, throwing the weight on them raise your- 
self up and pass the legs through the hands and shooting 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 



41 



them out in front of you, you will come down on the other 
side. 

Fig. 17. 




Now another exercise of nearly the same description, 
is to run and jump on the board in the same manner, 
spring up and jump over the horse with the legs outside 
the hands, this is a more difficult exercise than the other, 
and will need a much greater spring to raise yourself high 
enough to pass clear over, and you must also take care to 
let go with the hands at the proper moment, as if you hold 
the pommels too long you will lose all command of yourself 



Fig. 18. 




and they will have a tendency to pull you back, and cause 
you to pitch headlong to the ground, so it is better to have 



42 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



some one in front to catch you should you fail in your first 
attempt. 

You may vary these exercises by still vaulting or saddle 
vaulting ; that is, to get astride the horse, but at the back 
of the pommels, then seizing the pommels one in each 
hand, and bearing the whole weight on the arms, make a 
spring up with the legs and making a kind of a twist 
with the body and describing a semicircle with the legs, 
bring yourself round the other way, seated in front of the 
pommels, it is good to practice this exercise from left to 
right and when you are well advanced in it you may prac- 
tice this movement in a swing that is from left to right 
and vice versa. Now with some practice you will be able 
to do a very pretty feat called the one hand horizontal, 
this is done by getting on to the horse as in Fig. 16, 
then gradually draw the body on to the elbow, of the 
one hand on the aftermost pommel, and leaning the 
stomach on to the elbow as far as you can, straighten out 
the legs to a horizontal position, and raise the other hand 
forward over the head, until the whole body with the ex- 

Fig. 19. 




ception of one arm assumes a horizontal position, you 
may also turn the body on the wrist, forming a semi- 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. ,43 

circle with the feet and also the extended hand, then bring 
the hand down on to the pommel of the horse, and grad- 
ually raise the body into a hand balance, and conclud- 
ing the exercise with a half handspring to the ground 
the whole making a very pretty combination of tricks. 

You may also vary this by doing a flying handspring 
entirely over the horse, of course the horse must always 
be low when you commence these tricks, and you must 
always have some one to protect you from falling. 

Now to bring into play the muscles of the back we will 
try an exercise we call the roll over, so place your back to 
about the centre of the horse, with your hands holding the 
pommels behind you, then bend the upper part of your 
body well backwards and lift up your feet and you will 
soon find that you can raise them up over your head ; 
and by letting go of the hands at the proper time you 
will be able to roll over on to your feet on the other side, 
you will no doubt fall all in a heap the first time, but 
with practice and raising up your head as you let go you 
will come up standing and as this is a very showy trick 
I would advise all the pupils to try it. Another fine 
exercise for the whole body and particularly the lower 
extremities, is the long fly ; commence by placing the 
jumping board about three feet from the hind part of the 
horse, then with a run pitch yourself with your hands on 
to the horse and come to an equestrian seat, and continue 
by placing the board farther off, and then change it by 
pitching on to the hands first and bring the feet up on to 
the back of the horse in a stooping position, and then 
raising from this pitch forward with the hands on to the 
neck of the horse and go over it as in leap-frog ; the pom- 



44 



IIOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



mels must be removed for these exercises ; take a running 
jump and land astride of the horse using your hands as 
in the previous case and so increase the jump until at 
last you pitch with your hands on the neck of the horse 



and alight on the floor in front of it. 



Fig. 20, 




When you alight near the neck, and are likely to be 
able to come over in a few more trials, it will be better 
to have some of your companions stand in front to catch 
you in case you should not clear the end, you would come 
to a sudden stop on the neck of the horse and the impetus 
you have acquired by your leap would be likely to throw 
you head foremost to the ground, but do not be discouraged 
but make up your mind that what several have done that 
you can do with assiduous practice, but do not fancy you 
can do it in one or two trials, it must be done clean over 
the whole with one movement, it is much better to prac- 
tice this with horses of various Jengths which some of 
our best gymnasiums have. 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 45 



CHAPTER VI. 

TUMBLING, SOMERSAULT THROWING, ETC. 

. The next course of exercises that I shall lead you to 
is popularly (but incorrectly) called tumbling ; under 
which head comes the upstart, the handspring, the flip- 
flap, and forward and backward somersaults, and the 
great reason for introducing these exercises here, is the 
great confidence acquired and the assistance they are to 
the practice of the parallel and horizontal bars and the 
flying trapeze (which I shall presently explain). But 
I will not tire you with any further introduction, and 
as you are now supposed to be well up in all the jumping 
feats described in previous chapters, we will proceed to 
the exercises under the head of tumbling as described 
above, but you must not expect anything very easy in 
this branch of gymnastics, but let patience and persever- 
ence be your motto and you will overcome all the diffi- 
culties that present themselves at the commencement. 

The upstart, which means to lie on your back on the 
ground and with one movement come on to the feet in 
an upright position ; this feat is likely to tax your powers 
to perform it well, but you will find it very useful to 
cover many mistakes in which you have the misfortune 
to fall on your back as by a quick upstart you are on to 
your feet immediately and very few people would know 
but w r hat you had fallen in that way on purpose to intro- 
duce an upstart. To try this feat, you will have to get a 
large mattress and then lying on this on your back at full 
length, and raise your arms above your head with the 



46 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

hands open on the mattress, now raise your legs up over 
your head and throwing yourself on to your shoulders, and 
with a good spring from the hands and shoulders and a 
quick movement throw yourself upwards and try to bring 
the legs down smartly under the body making the feet de- 
scribe a semi-circle and lifting the body all you can, you 
will find that as soon as your feet have made the semi- 
circle you will lose all control of yourself and will fall on 
your back, but what you want is to come up on your feet 
and the chief thing to strive for is to bring the feet under 
and on to the ground as soon as possible and as the feet 
are near touching, to bring the hands forward so that 

Fig. 21. 




you will get your balance on your feet. There is also 
a way of doing an upstart by not touching the hands to 
the ground, but by placing them on the thighs and rolling 
on your back, giving all the spring from the shoulders and 
pushing the thighs with the hands as your feet describe, 
the semi-circle, you will come on to your feet providing 
always that you snap them under your body quickly ; 
this is a much more difficult way of doing it than the 
former and is termed the <c circus " upstart. 

Another feat that must be practised on a mattress is the 
handspring, as you will be very likely to come on the 
flat of your back several times before successfully accom- 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 47 

plishing the feat, which consists in standing up, throwing 
up the arms and the body simultaneously and pitching for- 
ward on to the hands and throwing your legs over your 
head and pushing with the arms, until you have com- 
pleted the circle and stand erect on your feet again. Now 
to start to do it, you must place one leg a little in advance 
of the other, the body slightly bending backward and the 
arms straight up, with a good spring throw yourself on 
to your hands, throwing the aftermost leg quickly over 
and followiug instantly with the other, (all depends on 
yourself now), as you are on your hands only momentary, 
you must keep the arms still, the chest out and head 
thrown back, just as you are falling back wads put all 
the weight on the hands and push from the fingers, and 
this push added to the spring you have taken, will in 

Fig. 22. 




time bring you on to your feet, and then yon have accom- 
plished the " handspring." After falling back several 
times you will find that you will come up on to your feet 



48 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

with the legs very much bent under the body, but with 
practise you will find it very easy to come up straight or 
in a position ready to do another handspring if you so 
desire. 

The "flip-flap" is another good exercise of the same 
kind and is neither more nor less than a handspring 
thrown backwards instead of forward ; stand on one end 
t)f the mattress, (which may be raised a little) with the 
back towards it, with the legs a little apart, arms straight 
and body slightly bent forward, bend slightly dow r n for 
a spring backwards, throwing the arms and head back 
and bending the upper part of the body backwards, at the 
same time throwing your legs upward over your head and 
pitching over on your hands, and with a spring from 
the hands and arms, you will come over on to your 
feet again. This feat is considered to be more difficult 

Fig. 23. 




than a backward somersault, but is not so showy, but a 
succession of flip-flaps, or as the circus men say, a "row" 
of flip-flaps, and a backward someVsault is a most striking 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 49 

and showy feat and will always gain applause. After 
you have accomplished one flip-flap, you will find it very 
easy to do a number of them as the impetus to throw 
you backward is preserved from one to the other, but you 
will find that all the backward exercises require considera- 
bly more confidence than the forward and much longer 
practice ; and for this reason, you are generally in the 
habit of moving forward and very seldom backward, you 
will notice that a slip forward is seldom dangerous, as we 
can guard against it to a certain degree and it is some- 
times scarcely noticed, but slip backwards and it will 
give you a nervous start, even if you do reeover yourself 
and avoid going down, it is the same with all backward 
exercises, being a departure from the usual way and there- 
fore you are naturally nervous when first trying them, 
but you will soon find when you get used to jumping back- 
ward, that they are easier than the handspring or forward 
somersault, although greater care is necessary when learn- 
ing. 

We now come to the forward somersault, or " forward" 
as it is generally called for shortness, it is performed by 
jumping up and turning heels over head in the air, de- 
scribing a circle with your legs before you again alight, 
and is perhaps the easiest to be learnt of all somersaults 
and yet you will find it one of the most difficult to execute 
in a finished style, as at first you will only make a plunge 
head foremost as though diving into the water, and pitch- 
ing right over on to your back for the first two or three 
times, will shake you up so that you will feel like giving 
up this exercise, but by having a soft mattress or some 
tan bark to break your fall, you will beget confidence and 



50 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

soon accomplish the feat, to do this take a short run, and 
jump up from both feet at once, which are a little apart, 
and thro wins the arms down and the head and shoulders 
forward with a quick spring letting the legs go backwards 
at the same time, the chief difficulty of course is to turn 
around sufficiently to come on your feet again on the 
ground and in this you will be assisted greatly by the catch, 
which means that when you have jumped high enough, 
you are to catch the hands on the underpart of the thigh 
just above the knee and pull your knees up to your body 
letting them go as you alight, in the catch the arms being 
suddenly stopped when in action the momentum is imparted 
to the lower part of the body and helping in a great degree 
to bring you over, when you have the confidence to prac- 
tice this without any assistance, you will find it advan- 
tageous to take a run of ten or fifteen feet. 

The last exercise I shall describe under the head of tum- 
bling is the backward somersault and is not any harder to 
accomplish than the flip-flap, although it looks considerably 
so, and would be considered a much more difficult feat by 
the spectators. Now let me show you how it cau be 
learned and successfully accomplished ; by the use of a 
very simple contrivance called a " lunge " a performer 
may successively attempt a backward somersault without 
the least possible danger. This "lunge" is a strong 
leather belt buckled around the waist, and having an eye 
at each side, into each eye is spliced a rope about two or 
three feet long and capable of fully supporting the weight 
of the gymnast, but this will be much better understood by 
reference to Fig. 24, where it is shown around the waist 
of the central figure, with the hands of the assistants on 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



51 



each side holding on to the rope, so that when the perform- 
er makes a spring or attempts a somersault and fails he 

Fig. 24. 




is prevented from falling by the support that is afforded by 
the ropes, this is a most useful adjunct in all gymnastics of 
an advanced character ; stand in a position with the feet 
a little apart and with the arms raised up, now to start 
bring the arms down with a quick swinging motion, then 
raising them as if trying to lift yourself, in the same time 
as high as it is possible for them to go, at the same instant 
with a good jump throw your legs right over your head, 
gathering yourself up, as it were and catching your thigh, 
and you will in time turn right over into your first position, 
before your head has time to come to the ground. Some 
very pretty compound movements may be performed (as 
soon as you can successfully accomplish a backward somer- 
sault), and is called a " round off, flip-flap and a back," the 



52 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

round off being simply a handspring done by turning quite 
round on the hands and feet, something in the manner of a 
wheel ; of course these are very difficult exercises, and 
should only be attempted when you are in good "form," 
but when they are once mastered they will be found 
very useful, and a means of safety in many cases. 

These last movements are not very easy exercises to de- 
scribe accurately being rather more complicated than those 
we have hitherto attempted. 



CHAPTER VII 



THE PARALLEL BARS. 



This is an exercise than can be practised outdoors as 
well as in the gymnasium, as the construction of the bars 
is very simple and merely consist of two bars, supported 
side by side at a suitable height from the ground. The 
width of the bars apart for ordinary persons should be 
about eighteen inches, and for those with broad shoulders 
nineteen inches, it is highly important to get the correct 
widths, as if they are too wide apart they are apt to strain 
the body, while the height of the bars should be about 
four feet, but they may be fixed and varied at pleasure, 
the length should be not less than eight feet, and the bars 
should be round and of a diameter of two inches and a 
quarter, oval bars are sometimes used, but the round ones 
are the most natural as most of the other apparatus is of 
a similar form. 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 53 

The exercises that can be performed on the parallel 
bars are useful in strengthening the chest and thoracic 
limbs, and medical men often recommend them in order 
to strengthen the ligament and intervertebral cartilages in 
spinal deviations. A thousand and one feats may be per- 
formed on the parallel bars, but of course, as I said before, 
you need only go as far as you like and keep to exercises 
well within your powers. 

There are many simple movements on these bars, but 
they are not so attractive or so much liked as those of 
the same kind on the horizontal bar, and some of them 
are very similar to movements on the vaulting horse, and 
therefore I shall only endeavor to show you some of those 
which are the best to practice and which will also afford 
variety. Now supposing the parallel bars to be properly 
fixed, you may commence by placing yourself between the 
bars in the centre, put your hands on the right and left 
bars at the same time ; a slight spring upward will raise 
the body on to the wrists, the legs must be kept close, and 
the arms straightened ; the first position may also be at- 
tained by an upward spring, and then place the hands on 
the bars, after the wrists have become used to the weight 
and position on the bars, try what is termed the walk, 
and is performed by jumping up with the hands on the bar 
with the body hanging suspended in between them as be- 
fore. Use your hands instead of your feet to move to 
and fro, walking along the bars by taking steps- with the 
hands on the bars, making them as evenly and regularly 
as you can, the weight of the body must be kept on the 
rigid arm while the other moves forward, keeping the head 
well up and the body perfectly straight ; it is not difficult 



54 



now to join a cincus, 



but will be found very tiresome. Walk in this way from 
one end to the other and when you can do this easily, 

Fig. 25. 




walk backwards in the same manner without turning round 
then let the body sink down with the elbows bent and 
hop on the hands from one end to the other backward 
and forward ; this you will find capital practice for the 
muscles of the arms, although rather tiring at first. The 
swinging hop may be next performed, communicate to 
your body a gentle movement backwards and forwards, 
until it moves freely, keep the knees straight and the feet 
touching each other, the swing may be increased until 
in both the backward and forward movements the legs are 
nearly upright over the head ; the arm sockets forming 
the pivot, then by raising the hands you will find yourself 
propelled forward or backward some considerable distance, 
it has a very good effect and is called by some the grass- 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 55 

hopper hop. Rising and sinking may be performed by 
placing the hands on the bars in the first position, raise 
yourself up and let your legs go backwards with the heels 
close together, lower yourself gently from this position 
until your elbows meet behind your back, remain in this 
attitude a short time, then rise gently, carefully avoiding 
touching the ground with your feet ; you may vary this 
exercise by gradually sinking a little lower than before and 
kissing the bar alternately behind each hand, this is a 
graceful movement, but do not spoil the effect by touching 
the ground with your knees. Another useful exercise is 
called the letter L, and is done with the hands on the 
bars and the legs are drawn up at right angles witli the 
body and the knees kept perfectly straight, and may be 
varied by clasping the hands outside the bars whilst stand- 
ing on the ground, raising the legs up and forming the 
same figure underneath the bars. 

The gymnast will now be able to vary the preliminary 
exercises, by throwing his legs over either bar whilst 
swinging or he may give himself a greater impetus and 
throw himself entirely on to the ground ; or swing back- 
wards and forwards until you are able to throw both legs 
over one side of the bars in front of you, then with another 
swing bring them back again and throw them over behind 
you on the same side and manner as before, there are 
several of these movements which may be practised with 
great advantage to the muscles and are called vaulting 
movements, and nearly all these exercises should be per- 
formed with the body as straight as possible and when done 
neatly with the legs close together have a very pretty 
and pleasing effect and are very good practice ; a nimble 



56 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 



movement is to take the right hand from its first position 
and touch the left hand and bring jt back again with- 
out losing your position, try the same movement with 
the left hand and when it can be done easily try and per- 
form the same movement by passing the hands behind 
the back in touching the bars ; next stand between the bars 
and placing the hands on the bars, and gradually raise the 
legs completely over the head until they turn over and 
bring the body in an inverted position then continue the 



Fig. 26. 




movement until you are hanging with the feet and head 
down, then by raising the legs over again you come to 
the position you started from. You should practice these 
movements until you can do it several times without touch- 
ing the feet to the ground and you will find it very good 
practice for the front and back horizontal movements. 

To stand on the bar like a tight rope dancer, you must 
secure a good balance whilst astride one of the bars, 
then place the sole of one foot on the bar and the toe of 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 57 

the other foot slipped underneath it, and by means of 
this toe draw yourself to an upright position, and briug 
both feet together on the bar, to do this properly you 
will have to practice balancing as I have before this de- 
scribed, or you may get a very bad fall ; now swing up 
into the first position, throw one leg over each bar and 
rest your hands on the bars behind the legs, remember 
your swinging practice, then disengage the feet, swing 
boldly through the bars and when your legs are fairly 
through and above the bars extend them and seat your- 
self astride with your face in the opposite direction ; 
another swinging movement is done by swinging at one 
end of the bars, and when in full course spring forward, 
catch the bars with the hands and then immediately com- 
mence to raise the body preparatory to another swing, 
this is a very pretty and graceful feat, but be careful 
or you may fall ; now stand in the first position, swing the 
body and legs three or four times backwards and for- 
wards, then in the forward swing throw the legs one over 
each bar, leaving your hands resting on the bar behind 
your legs, remember your swinging practice, then disen- 
gage your hands and place them on the bars in front 
of you as far as you can reach, throw the weight of 
the body on to the arms and disengage the legs and by 
a swinging motion of the body repeat the feat the whole 
length of the bars. 

The next practice that I shall describe is often called 
the " walking beam" or pump movement, and is one of 
the very best exercises for developing the muscles of the 
chest and arms. First get on to the bars in the first 
position and commence your swinging movements until 



58 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

you can bring your body up horizontally, supported by 
the arms, then by bending the arms at the elbows, drop 
the body in the same position, then swing round, your 
feet in the action describing a semi-circle and bring them 
back again, finishing or repeating the movement by swing- 
ing backwards again in the same manner, as you did 
on commencing the exercise. When you have become 
proficient in these movements you may attempt a higher 
flight and increase the momentum of the swing until it 
forces you up into a hand balance. 

To do this exercise correctly it must be practised on the 
extreme end of the bars, with the back towards them 

Fig. 27. 




lengthwise, y^u will soon see the necessity of this pre- 
caution, as if you should overbalance, you can easily 
lower the body by bending the arms and springing over 
on to your feet, but when first you attempt the hand 
balance you must have two assistants standing a little 
behind you (one on each side), with their hands ready 
to catch you should you fail in balancing yourself, and 
the same precautions must be taken when trying the hand- 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 



59 



spring off the end of the parallels, which movement it 
will'be as well to practise first so that when you can 
accomplish it you will have no fear when you are trying 
the hand balance. 

Another exercise which requires great muscular power 
to perform it properly is the " slow upward movement*' 
or " dead pull up." At starting place the hands well up 
over the ends of the bars, in fact almost resting on the 
wrists, as you then have the greater purchase or pull, 
then very slowly raise the body, until it is supported by 
the arms which are bent at the elbows ; this is all done 

Fig. 28. 




by main strength and if you can get up to this position, 
as it is the critical and turning point of the movement, 
but if you can manage to get above this, you can get right 



60 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

up with your arms straight with a very little farther exer- 
tion. Some are not content even with this, but continue 
until they get quite up into a hand balance, which is a 
much more showy finish than simply coming down in the 
way you go up ; but one of the most difficult exercises on 
the parallel bars is to bring the head and shoulders for- 
ward so as to counterbalance the legs and so bring the 
body on a parallel with the bars, this is by some professors 
called " La Planche ;" you may now bend one elbow and 
bearing the weight of the body on it, extend the other 
hand above the head, and keeping the body and legs in 
just the same position, this is called by some the " Mer- 
cury " or M Vane." 

These exercises are not necessarily performed in the 
order given here, but may be varied to suit the taste, 
strength and muscular development of the pupil, but you 
will find in nearly all these chapters the easiest movements 
are described first and generally the hardest and most 
difficult last. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ON THE HORIZONTAL BAR. 

The exercises on the horizontal bar, are amongst the 
most useful and strengthening of gymnastic exercises, and 
perhaps also the most varied and attractive, as the early 
movements are so very easy that they may be performed 
by the merest tyro in manly exercise, and I generally 
notice that embryo gymnasts are usually fond of com- 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 61 

mencing with something which looks showy and the first 
thing they w r ill do on going into a gymnasium is to seize 
the bar and commence to pull themselves up, but they soon 
get satisfaction and then they go for something easier. 

It is not necessary to describe all these movements as 
any one without instruction can place himself underneath a 
bar and pull himself up by his hands, and this if often 
repeated will be of great benefit to the muscles of the 
arms and body. In fact on a bar which will shift up 
and down and can thus be regulated to suit the height 
of every one, exercises can be performed almost as simple 
as the most preliminary forms of free movements or calis- 
thenics. But before w r e commence let us see if the appar- 
atus is of the right proportions, as it is not of the slightest 
use to attempt the exercises I am about to describe unless 
upon a properly constructed bar. 

Now I will tell you what I consider the correct pro- 
portions of the bar before you attempt to get upon it. 
In the first place I have found hickory the best material 
for the bar itself, (which should be made to shift up and 
down) ; and if for a public gymnasium, the uprights should 
fit firmly into iron sockets in the ground, but for private 
use a bar supported as in Fig. 29 will answer every 
purpose and also possess the advantage of being porta- 
ble. This form of construction is preferable, and it is 
much steadier as the principal is correct, the strength and 
rigidity being where most required, that is, at the top 
of the uprights, as in a bar fixed in the ground if without 
guy lines, the strength must be at the bottom, and thus 
the farthest removed from the place of greatest strain. 
In the bar shown above, the two uprights merely stand 



62 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 



upon the floor or ground, guys being screwed into the floor 
(if indoors), or fixed to stakes driven into the ground (if 



Fig. 29. 




out-doors). The height of the bar from the ground of 
course varies according to that of the gymnast, and the 
nature of the exercises. To get the full height the best 
way is to stand on tiptoes, and reach as high as you can, 
so as just to touch the lower side of the bar with both 
hands and then when you are hanging by the hands, the 
toes will swing clear of the ground. It is not so well to 
have the bar too high as it causes unnecessary fatigue, and 
some of the strength which is wasted in getting up would 
be found useful afterwards. Having determined the height 
of the bar, the proper length and thickness are now to 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 63 

be considered ; the length should be seven feet, and the 
diameter one inch and three quarters, with a steel rod 
or core one inch thick, running through the centre, if 
you have a bar without the steel core the diameter must 
be increased to two inches, and the length reduced to 
six feet, but although the bar is actually shorter, the 
spring will be greater, and the extra thickness will hin- 
der so good a grip being taken. 

The bar being now fixed in its proper position requires 
to be put in good condition. Most likely there will be 
a little grease on it from previous practice, which it is 
highly important should be removed before commencing ; 
this is done in the following manner, take a wet cloth 
(without soap or soda, as any kind of alkali will raise 
the grain of the wood and make it rough), and rub 
the bar with it, then get a few feet of rope about sash 
line size, give it one turn around the bar and taking hold 
of the ends one in each hand and pull them up and 
down, gradually moving it from one end to the other, 
the friction will dry the wood, remove the grease and 
dirt and put on the bar a good surface. The bar being 
now in good condition, wash your hands clean and thor- 
oughly dry them, you will find that there is no resin 
required, which every gymnast is compelled to use if 
the bar is not kept in good order ; the use of resin is 
bad for various reasons, it will dirty your hands, and if 
you are not in constant practice it w r ill cause blisters 
sooner than otherwise. I have sometimes seen the skin 
of hard hands torn, and wounds ensue preventing further 
practice for some time, but if you are obliged to use 
resin do it judiciously, powder a little and rub only the 



64 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

tips of the fingers in it ; avoid above al I things getting 
it into the palms of the hands, as it will make them 
stick to the bar, and it is also very likely to cause jerks 
in swinging and the grip will not be so certain as when 
the hands move smoothly round. Thfese details may 
appear rather tedious, but you will find them useful, as 
they apply to all apparatus where the wood is handled. 

Now there is another thing you must bear in mind, and 
that is, the way in which you must take hold of the bar ; 
some say that you should take hold of it as you would 
a handle, with the thumb underneath, but the proper 
way is the thumb on the same side as the fingers, if 
the thumb be underneath, in all ordinary swinging ex- 
ercises, it has a tendency to draw the fingers off; although 
in some of the slow movements it may be under, yet, 
as a rule, it is better above. 

Now if you will keep what I have said in mind, we will 
proceed to some of the exercises. Jump up to the bar 
and hang with the hands, the body and arms hanging 
perfectly straight and feet close together. Hardly any- 
thing looks worse than to see the legs swinging about 
in all directions when you are performing any exercise. 
To perform all feats quietly and easily, shows the fin- 
ished gymnast and so far from violent exertions being 
the test of difficulty, the reverse is generally the case, 
and the easiest looking feats are very often the hardest 
and vice versa, and these irregular movements only tend 
to tire you. 

Now having hold of the bar with both hands, draw 
yourself up until the chin is above the bar, and lower 
the body until the arms are quite straight again, now 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 65 

try a few gentle exercises, such as hanging by each 
hand alternately, the other hanging by the side ; walk 
the length of the bar with the hands, draw yourself 
with your chin above the bar and repeat the walk in 
that position ; next swing yourself backward and for- 
ward at arms length until you can swing your body 
almost into a horizontal position, now draw yourself 
gradually up, then suddenly drop the whole of the right 
side, raise the left leg and throw it over the bar and 
with the hanging leg establish a good swing which w T ill 
bring you up over the bar, try as much as you can 
to come up with the body as upright as possible. There 

Fig. 30. 




is another method of getting on to the bar, by bringing 
the leg up through the hands and with one good swing 
bring yourself up as in Fig. 30. You may try either of 
these methods, but nothing but continued practice w r ill 
enable you to master either of them, but when you do 
and can get on to the bar in a respectable manner, you 
may consider you are making some progress. 



66 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

We will now proceed to the leg swing or knee revolve, 
being in your last position, throw your right leg as far 
behind you as possible, at the same time slipping the 
other leg backward and catching by the bend of the knee, 
then throw the head back with a good swing (keeping 
the arms straight), and you will thus make one turn 
backward round the bar. You will find at first you are 
apt to make a half turn too much, but after a little prac- 
tice you will be able to regulate the force of the first 
swing so as to go once round and come up in to your 
first position with a good balance ; next try two or three 
turns without stopping, but always endeavor to finish 
above the bar, as at starting. For the forward swing 
or revolve, reverse the hands, keeping the whole weight 
of the body on the arms, throw the head well to the 
front and with one plunge forward, keeping tight hold 
with the hands and the body erect, you will make one 
forward revolution round the bar, after some practice 
you will be able to make a number of revolutions, this 
is a very useful and showy exercise. 

Having accomplished the backward and forward re- 
volve, we will now take a seat on the bar, try to bal- 
ance yourself without holding by the hands, try to sit 
almost straight and again with the bar within the angle 
of the knee ; we now come to the sit swing or free will 
revolve. The sit swing is somewhat similar to the leg 
swing, but of course more difficult ; hold on to the bar 
with your hands, straighten the arms and let them sup- 
port a great part of the weight of the body, now throw 
yourself backwards with a good swing, the object of 
this movement is to go quite round the bar in the swing 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 67 

and thus make one complete revolution. In the for- 
ward sit swing the first start is the principal thing, as 

Fig. 31. 




the impetus gained will be sufficient to bring you up 
again, to get a good start you must raise the body as 
far away from the bar as possible, supporting the whole 
weight on the arms, now throw the chest out and the 
head back with the legs rather straight, then with a 
good plunge forward, keeping the arms stiff, you will 
go quite round, that is to say you will in time, for you 
must not think of succeeding at first in any of these feats, 
but perseverance will soon enable you to accomplish them. 
You will find in practising this exercise that some of 
your strength will be expended in getting on to the bar 
again after each failure, so I will show you a very 
good way of getting into the sitting position again while 
hanging as in Fig. 32. Straighten the body and draw 
your centre of gravity a little above the bar, then bend- 
ing the body slightly backwards you will roll quite over 
so as to come into a sitting position again. This move- 
ment is called the backward pull. 



68 how to join a circus. 

Fig. 32. 




I may here say that all the names of exercises which 
are given, and some of which may sound rather strange 
to the uninitiated, are actually in use among those who 
perform these feats and are not invented for the purpose 
of description. 

• The next performance to which I invite your attention 
is of rather an ambitious character and is called the 
short swing or circle. In the first place you must com- 
mence by getting on to the bar in the following manner : 
draw the chest up to the bar, then throw the head back 
and project the legs as far forward as possible and at 
the same time upward ; the tendency of this movement 
will be that your hands holding the bar will form a 
kind of axis, while your feet will describe part of ;i cir- 
cle, answering to the periphery of the wheel. Now while 
the legs are passing around straighten your arms and 
you will come down on the other side ; of course this 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 69 

is very difficult to accomplish and will require much 
practice, but you now should be somewhat u au fait" 
on the bar, and gaining confidence in your own powers. 
I should recommend learners however to lower the bar 
about a foot, so that they can spring off the ground if 
necessary. Now pull up to the bar bearing the weight 
on the hands with the arms stiff; the object is to revolve 
round the bar like a wheel on its axis. This you must 
try to do by throwing the upper part of the body for- 
ward with a good swing, at the same time keeping the 
arms rigid and the body a little away from the bar and 
endeavoring to give yourself enough impetus to go right 
round, passing beneath the bar and coming up in the 
first position ; at first you will simply come off the bar 
into a hanging position underneath, but when you begin 
to master the feat, you will get a knack of supporting 
the body with the arms while you are turning round. 

We now come to the arm revolve or Hindoo punish- 
ment, the name of which may be supposed to indicate, 
as it really does, a rather painful exercise to the muscles 
of the arms. But I will describe it as it is a very showy 
performance although not very difficult. But although I 
give a description of it here, let me not be misunder- 
stood. What I wish to inculcate is, the general use of 
gymnastic exercises suitable to the powers of those who 
engage in them. These exercises may be performed on 
any or all of the apparatus here described, but it is not 
at all necessary that any one should master the whole 
of the feats in order to derive the expected benefit. Per- 
sons of a disposition at all nervous may confine them- 
selves to movements in which there cannot be the slightest 



70 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

risk, any more than in the ordinary avocations of life ; 
others may advance further and practice in a manner 
a little more exciting, while those who have the requis- 
ite combination of pluck and nerve, a desire to join the 
circus and a moderately robust frame, may attempt with 
perfect success any of the most complicated and difficult 
feats in gymnastics, such as somersault throwing and 
the flying trapeze. 

The arm revolve is performed by getting on to the 
bar in a sitting position, then straighten the body and 
put the arms straight down behind you, and allow your- 
self to slip gradually down until the bar catches the in- 
side of your arms, and commence swinging backward and 
forward until you get momentum sufficient to carry you 

Fig. 33. 




quite round the bar and with practice you will soon be 
able to revolve to your own satisfaction. Fig. 33 repre- 
sents the ordinary manner of performing this feat, but to 
do it the reverse way (or backward) requires much more 
practice. Another way to do this feat is to straighten 
the arms along the bar and grasping it with the hands 
thro^v the body over to revolve. This is a performance 
which, when well done, takes wonderfully well with an 
audience, and creates more enthusiam than much more 
difficult feats. 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 71 

The hand grind is similar to the exercise last described, 
only that the hands alone grasp the bar which is only 
touched by the back and not by the arms at all. 

To* hang by the legs ; a young beginner should prac- 
tice this on a low bar, so that when he hangs by the 
legs his hands will touch the ground and thus when he 
is getting tired and cannot raise himself he may let his 
legs drop and come on to his hands on the floor safely. 
To commence get on to the bar in a sitting position, 
and then throw yourself off backward as for a sit swing, 
but instead of attempting to go round, drop the body 
and bend your knees and thus let them catch on the 
bar, getting a firm grip with them, at the same time 
letting go your hands ; after you have staid in that posi- 
tion you may let the legs drop and come on to the floor. 
You may then get on to the bar again, hanging by the 
knees as before and practice swinging backward and 
forward as high as you can. At first the friction will 
make the legs a little sore, but it will soon harden with 
practise. Having obtained good command of swinging 
in this way, you may (when your body is in a forward 
horizontal position) venture to let go witli the legs and 
Jetting them drop thus come on to your feet on the 
ground. 

The fall back and swing off is done from a sitting posi- 
tion on the bar, and is done by throwing yourself back, 
wards and bringing the body to a horizontal position 
forward then let go the knees ; at first you will come 
on to your hands and knees, but you will soon overcome 
that when you gain confidence to let go at the proper 
moment. In first trying this you will most likely be 



72 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

apt to hold on too long, not allowing sufficient swing to 
turn in order to come on to the feet ; if you let go when 

Fig. 34. 




swinging back of course you must come on to your 
hands or head, but you must always endeavor to protect 
your head by your hands, by holding them beyond the 
head, thus ready in case of a slip. No careful gymnast 
need ever be afraid of injury if he uses his brain as well 
as his body, and you will find that if a mishap occurs, it 
is generally to some one who attempts exercises without 
taking into consideration in what different positions he 
may come off the apparatus in use. But all these ex- 
ercises may be gone through safely if sufficient precau- 
tions are taken at first ; and I advise the use of the 
"lunge" (described in the chapter on tumbling) for all 
performances of a fancied dangerous description as it be- 
gets confidence in the pupil. 

There are a few other leg exercises which may be 
practised with advantage and which will afford variety 
and also help to bring all the muscles into play. One 
of these is, where you hang on to the bar with one leg, 
the other straight out, the toe touching the under side 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 73 

of the bar and the movement is to bend the body up 
and down bringing the feet up touching the bar, do 
this with right and left legs alternately and it will 
strengthen them for the next movement which is called 
the fall back or hock swing. 

This is a very difficult performance requiring great 
confidence as well as practice, and for some time you will 
find you will come off the bar as in the leg swing off 
previously described, and you will have to be well up 
in the swing off before you can expect to succeed, but 
when well done it is one of the most graceful and striking 
feats in gymnastics and one that is really an enjoy- 
ment to the performer, without any of the exhaustive 
exertion attendant on some of the other exercises. 

To perform this sit on the bar as far back as you 
can and then let yourself fall backwards with your arms 
extended ; as in keeping a tight hold with the legs, but 
before the body is below the bar straighten yourself and 
throw the arms back and the chest out which will give 
you swing enough to go right round into sitting position 
again, then when you can recover your sitting position 
again, you may repeat the movement, until you can 
do several revolutions in a swing, or a momentary bal- 
ance may be obtained between each revolution which 
is the most difficult ; there are some other exercises for 
the legs, if space and your patience would allow ; but 
those I have described must suffice. 

A performance which is very showy, is the standing 
balance on the bar. This may be practiced on a bar 
as low as you like, so that you can easily jump off, but 
of course it looks better on a bar of ordinary height. 



*4 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

While you are sitting on the bar lift one foot and grad- 
ually bring it up under you on to the bar, and then 
raise yourself up standing ; this is a feat which of course 

Fig. 35. 




requires great strength in the legs and a good command 
of balancing power, now endeavor to walk forward and 
backward by shifting the feet and if you lose your bal- 
ance jump off the bar altogether without trying to re- 
cover it ; then get up again and hang by the toes, this 
will make a good finish after balancing on the bar. I 
generally do this after several balancing tricks on the 
bar, first on one foot and then on the other, and then 
turning round, finally letting myself down and dropping 
underneath, then hooking my toes on to the bar, I let 
myself hang down perfectly straight, folding my arms at 
the same time and then raising my body up take one 
foot off the bar followed by the other foot, slapping the 
thigh with the hand as if pushing the foot off the bar 
and come directly on to my feet, this is done without 



now TO JOIN A circus. To 

stopping and has a good effect, but of course you must 
not expect to accomplish anything in this style for some 
time and therefore must be content simply to hang by 
your hands, and then bring your legs up and hook your 
toes over the bar, taking care the moment you let go 
with your hands, to straighten the body and stretch out 
your arms so as to reach the ground in order to take 
off the weight if you find your feet slipping off, if this 
should be the case, you must leave go your hold and 
come on to the ground ; as I have explained, the proper 
way is to draw r the body up from the hanging down posi- 
tion and take hold of the bar with the hands before 
taking the feet off, but at first you will find it rather 
difficult. 

Now as vaulting over the bar is by no means a diffi- 
cult feat, it should be done in good style to look well, 
going clean over in a swing, and will be found a very 
useful exercise and quite as well performed on the 
horizontal bar as on the vaulting horse, if your choice 
of apparatus should be limited. Try it first on a bar 
about three feet six inches from the ground, and grad- 
ually raise it, but take care not to overtask your powers 
by having it too high for you, as very often when young 
gymnasts find they are getting on and can manage a 
height of four feet six inches respectably, they must 
needs try a few inches higher and are thus very apt to 
get into a slovenly habit. Vaulting should be done with 
the body as straight and as far away from the bar as 
possible and should be practiced both left and right'. 
Other movements which afford to the advanced gymnast 
the quickest way of getting on to the bar, are named 



76 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

upstarts and jerks and are particularly good for short 
swings and other exercises which are commenced from 
the first position. 

The upstart is, as its names implies, a way of getting 
on to the bar with a quick movement, partaking of the 
nature of a start, and is done by first hanging by the 
hands and then bringing the feet up to the bar, and 

Fig. 36. 




shooting them out as far as you can, which will give 
you so much swing that you will be able after a time 
to draw yourself right up on to the bar. This exercise 
is better learned by practice than by any description I 
can give. 

The jerk is to achieve the same thing but without 
the swing. To perform this you must draw the legs up 
keeping the arms straight, then drop the legs suddenly 
and raise the body above the bar; the act of dropping 
the legs gives a kind of send up to the body and takes 
off the dead weight, rendering it easier to draw your- 
self up. 

We now come to a movement which uo amount of 
description will render easier, as it depends on sheer 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 77 

strength, this is the slow pull up. This feat is performed 
by simply drawing the body up while hanging at arms 
length from the bar. You must get the hands well 
over the bar, so that, in fact, you hang on by the 
wrists. It is generally done with the thumb underneath 
the bar, (thus forming an exception to the general rule), 
otherwise as the whole weight is on the wrists ; when 
you come up your hands are apt to slip off, which the 
placing the thumb on the under part prevents ; when 
you have pulled up so your breast leans against the bar 
you will find that all your strength will be required, 
and you will find that by now raising the elbows you 
will get a greater purchase or lift and you must also 
raise the legs a little so as to counterbalance the weight 
of the body and to bring it up. 

Another slow movement which also requires a great 
amount of practice, besides the indispensable muscular 
power, is to slowly revolve around the bar backwards 
in a horizontal position ; catch the bar with the hands 
one over and one under, then lock one foot round the 
bar, the other leg thrown over the bar when in this 
position, the leg thrown over the bar is brought for- 
ward, which helps to bring the body up, then assist 
with the hands, and if you find it almost too much for 
you a swiag with the leg will assist. 

The next movement which requires bodily strength and 
persevering practice are the back and front horizontals 
and are splendid exercises, they are performed by hang- 
ing in horizontal positions supported alone by the arms ; 
the back is done by pulling through the arms and shoot- 
ing the legs out in a line behind, at the same time 



78 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

throwing out the chest and holding the head up or back. 

Fig. 37. 




Having now shown you the movements on the hori- 
zontal bar from the simplest to those requiring great 
strength I will now proceed to one of the most diffi- 
cult of all the exercises, requiring great nerve as well 
as strength and it is called the giant swing or great 
circle. This performance consists in swinging round the 
bar at arms length and is very trying especially when 
several revolutions are made in a swing. Before you 
attempt this feat, however, it is imperatively necessary 
that you are well up in the short swing and you must 
prepare yourself by gradually getting the body further 
away from the bar. But when you actually attempt the 
giant swing, you must make up your mind for it and 
without any half heartedness throw yourself up almost 
into a hand balance on the bar, but without losing the 
momentum of the swing, and as you descend slightly 
bend the body backward, but just as you get to the 
bottom throw the legs suddenly forw T ard and the head 
back and this jerk will give you a great impetus back- 
ward. Now you must, while you are going up, draw 
yourself a little closer by bending the arms, thereby 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 79 

shortening the distance from the bar, and assisting the 
first impetus gained, and you should now come over 
the bar with the arms still bent and the chest thrown 
forward ; you will now find that the hands are rather 
too far over the bar, the arras being bent and the body 
nearly perpendicular, this is what may be called the 
dead point or hand stand of the swing, and is a very awk- 
ward position to be in, but the secret of getting out of 
it and regaining the full force of the swing is what is 
called the shift, which is to give the hands a sudden 
turn, and bring the palms on to the top of the bar, 
which will give you power again to straighten the arms, 
and start for another revolution. If you cannot succeed 
in accomplishing the shift you will find that you will 
make another three quarter swing and come back with 

i 

Fig. 38. 




your chest on the bar rather unpleasantly ; but persever- 
ance and confidence will eventually enable you to accom- 
plish the giant swing forward. 

You will observe that I am not now treating you as 
a novice, for no one should ever attempt feats of this 
kind unless he has become a tolerably good gymnast. 



80 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

But this I should hope you are by this time, as I sup- 
pose you to have gone regularly on from one exercise 
to the next and from the easy to the difficult, as no one 
will find it of the slightest utility to commence in the 
middle of a book of this kind, and I should hope no 
one who is really in earnest to improve would pay the 
author such a poor compliment. 

The giant swing or great circle backward is a per- 
formance of still more difficulty, get on to the bar as 
before and reverse the hands, placing them under the 
bar, and the thumb over and then pull up and incline 
the head and shoulders forward over the bar until your 
legs are going up, then push up on the arms until you 
get nearly a hand balance with the arms still bent, 
you will now begin to fall over, and at this moment 
straighten the arms, w 7 hich will give you swing enough 
to come up over the bar again in your first position 
and ready for the second revolution ; never practice this 
on a bar more than an inch and three quarters in thick- 
ness as the smaller the bar the better hold you will get. 
Now when you can accomplish the backward and for- 
ward giant swing you may try a few one way and then 
reversing the motion finish with a few the other way 
without coming off the bar or stopping the motion. 
To do this striking and adventurous looking feat you 
must commence with the backward giant swing and 
when you have made three or four revolutions, taking 
care not to tire yourself and are in the backward hand 
balance position (previously described), you must re- 
verse the hands and throw yourself as far from the bar 
as possible, at the same time straightening the body 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 81 

and you will then be ready for your forward giant 
swing. 

There is another movement which makes a splendid 
finish to this feat, which is called the cut away. The 
performance of this feat demands great care in learn 
ing, but I consider this and the following as among 
the easiest advanced exercises on the bar ; first put on 
the lunge (described in the chapter on tumbling) with 
some one on each side to hold the ropes, now swing as 
in commencing for the giant swing forward and as soon 
as you are level with the other side of the bar, let go 
with your hands, and you will turn completely round 
and come on to your feet on the ground ; at the same 
time you let go the bar be careful to throw the head 
back and the chest out and you will be sure to alight 
in a graceful position. 

The first time this graceful ^volution was performed 
was by accident. A young circus performer while at 
his daily practice was trying a giant swing and the bar 
being too thick he could not retain his grasp when the 

Fig. 39. 




great strain of the swing took place, his hands slipped 
when in position (see fig. 39) and the effect was that 
he turned completely round in the air and came on to 



82 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

his feet safely. Next day he related the circumstance 
and we concluded that it would be a grand finish to 
the giant swing and well worth learning, accordingly 
it. was practiced with the lunge and we found it much 
easier than we had expected. The principal thing while 
practicing it is to get a good swing, but not quite so 
much as is required to perform the giant swing or else 
you are apt to turn rather too much and too quickly 
and so catch your feet against the bar, but experience 
must teach you the happy medium. 

The last exercise I shall speak of in connection with 
the horizontal bar is the snap off. This is to sit on 
the bar with the body perfectly straight and bring the 
arms above the head and then let the body fall back- 
wards and let it bend over the bar, throwing the head 
back and the chest out at the same time and you will 
then execute a kind of a back somersault on to the 
feet. This, of course, must not be attempted without 
first putting on the lunge and with the help of the 
assistants it will be found very simple and easy, al- 
though requiring great confidence ; but you will find 
that when you have once done it you can always do 
it. 

Two difficult movements are called the trussed fowl 
and the true lovers knot. To perform the first you hang 
on the bar, draw up the feet and place the insteps against 
the bar, push the body through the arms and remain in 
that position as long as you can ; the latter is a school- 
boys trick and very difficult to do. Grasp the bar, 
pass the left knee through the right arm, until the in- 
side of the knee rests against the inside of the right 



now TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 83 

elbow, now pass the right knee over the instep of the 
left foot, let go the left hand and with it grasp the right 
foot. You will now hang by the right hand in an atti- 
tude that professional circus tumblers can seldom assume. 



CHAPTER IX. 

ZAMPILLAEROSTATION, OR THE FLYING TRAPEZE. 

Op all performances on gymnastic apparatus, the most 
fascinating is, perhaps, that elaborate form of swinging 
called on the circus posters by the title of Zampillacr- 
ostation, or the flying trapeze, first introduced in Paris 
by a Frenchman from Toulouse, named Leotard, and 
afterwards first introduced and popularized into this coun- 
try by Wm. Hanlon, of the celebrated Hanlon brothers, 
and which has lately been brought so prominently for- 
ward in all our principal gymnasiums and in which we 
may recognise the old swinging bar of our youthful days, 
under a more ambitious designation. "We all know the 
pleasure afforded by the common children's swing and 
the exhilarating effects of the quick motion through the 
air, even when sitting comfortably in a suspended chair, 
how intense then must be the glorious feeling of rush- 
ing through mid air solely dependent on the arms and 
the satisfaction of successively achieving the well judged 
change of bars, the graceful turn between them or the 
daring leap from one to the other. No one who has 
never experienced this can realize its peeuliar charm, 



84: HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

and no one who has felt it is likely ever to forget it, 
particularly as this is an accomplishment which is long 
retained, so much depending on skill, though of course 
nerve and strength are necessary. You may be without 
the sight of a trapeze for years and have almost for- 
gotten that such a thing is in existence and yet on com- 
ing across one again, all the old feeling of delight will 
return and you will (most likely) seize hold of it as 
eagerly as ever, of course making allowance for the in- 
creased gravity and consequent loss of impulsiveness at- 
tendant upon riper years and the dignity perhaps of being 
the father of a family. But these evidences of the march 
of time will doubtless be instantly brought to your recol- 
lection by the increased weight of your corpus and the 
diminished holding power in your arms. 

I do not praise this exercise for the possession of any 
peculiar excellence in it, and here we may see a great 
contrast with other gymnastic performances, for although 
I can point to many amateurs who could give as good 
a performance on the horizontal bar or parallels as any 
professional whatever, yet this is by no means the case 
with the trapeze, excelence on which is very rare among 
amateurs, which is, no doubt, from the want of appar- 
atus hitherto felt, and I am not aware of any one 
(professional or otherwise,) who can approach the great 
Maestro Leotard in performing upon it ; of course many 
who have followed him can give a very good perform- 
ance. And such is the ignorance of the public on this 
subject and the want of appreciation of really difficult 
gymnastic feats that the same indiscriminating and bois- 
terous applause is often bestowed on far inferior artists. 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 85 

But really some of the movements of Leotard upon 
the trapeze are really the perfection of what some one 
somewhere calls the poetry of motion, and rather re- 
semble the gambols of children whose every movement 
is graceful, than the performance of feats requiring a 
rare combination of personal qualities and an immense 
amount of practice. 

But there is no doubt that many who have seen these 
beautiful feats upon the trapeze, would like to be able 
to perform them, and if they have the necessary per- 
sonal qualifications I see no reason why they should 
not, and therefore include these remarks and instruc- 
tions on the subject. 

Fig. 40. 




But before commencing the flying trapeze, you may 
take a turn with the hand rings, in order to accustom 



86 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

yourself to the ropes and also to get used to hanging 
by your arms in various positions ; these, although 
called rings, are of various shapes and sizes, but the 
stirrup form are the most preferable, fixed to ropes 
suspended from a height of fifteen to eighteen feet, and 
hanging at a suitable height to allow the feet to clear 
the ground when hanging at arms length from them, 
you may commence by drawing yourself up (as in 
fig. 40), holding one ring at arms length and the other 
close to the body, then draw in the outstretched arm 
and straighten the other and repeat this as often as you 
like, as it is very good preliminary exercise for the 
trapeze. You can also practice back and front hori- 
zontals (the same as described in the chapter on the 
horizontal bar). Draw yourself quite up with your 
hands in the rings, and your arms straight and close 
to your sides; now from this position gradually spread 
the arms wide apart, suspending the body between 

Fig. 41. 




them and then let the body gradually sink down until 
you hang straight down by the arms again. 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 87 

There are many other strength movements on the 
hand rings, but you will soon find them out for your- 
self and therefore I will pass on to the swinging exer- 
cises. Commence simply swinging backward and for- 
ward, increasing your momentum by drawing yourself 
up, contracting the arms as you ascend, and when at 
the highest, lowering your body with a drop and by 
this means you will swing higher each time, until you 
are able to bring your arms and legs straight and nearly 
in a horizontal position (see fig. 41). Also swing in 
different positions in order to get command of your- 
self while swinging ; practice by drawing the legs over 
the head when at the end of the swing (see fig. 42), 

Fig. 42. 




passing back in this position at the other end, and then 
bringing the legs smartly over and shooting them 
straight out (in order to preserve the momentum) and 
coming back all straight again to the starting point, 
repeat this exercise several times and you will find it 
very good work for the muscles, also swing with the 



88 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

hands held close to the groin, and supporting the body 
at arms length the head back and the chest thrown well 
forward, keeping yourself from pitching your head and 
shoulders too much forward at the end of the swing, 
by bending the arms and projecting the legs in a hori- 
zontal position which represents the bend forward like 
position which you assume when beginning to descend. 

Another variety of this swing is, where the body is 
kept nearly horizontal all through and this movement 
is very good practice (when you come to the trapeze) 
for flying from one bar to the other when a long dis- 
tance apart. You must well practice these swinging 
exercises with the stirrup rings until you are sufficiently 
advanced to venture on the trapeze bar. 

The trapeze bars are generally about twenty-six inches 
in length and an inch and a quarter in diameter, with 
a steel core in the centre, "which gives the proper weight 
as well as strength to the bar and the ropes should be 
neatly spliced into brass eyes firmly fitted or screwed 
on to the end of the bar. 

Now for the first trial with the bar. Stand on the 
starting platform, (which is a small stage of light con- 
struction standing at a convenient distance from the 
trapeze and of a height suitable to start from), holding 
the bar in one hand (as in fig. 43), as you can get into 
a freer swing than when holding by both, and you must 
also be very careful to hold the bar so that your weight 
is thrown exactly in the centre. Now jump off the 
platform (at the same instant taking hold w T ith the other 
hand), throwing yourself off w T ith a good impetus in 
order to get swing enough to bring your legs well back 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 89 

above and on to the platform again. Practice this un- 
til you can do it easily and without much exertion to 
yourself. 

Next drop off the platform with a gentle swing and 
let go the bar at the end of the swing and come on 

Fig. 43. 




to your feet on the ground. Repeat this, increasing 
the swing gradually, and hanging upon the bar a little 
longer and further each time, until you are able to let 
go at a good height, and come on to your feet with the 
body nearly perpendicular and with a good command 
of yourself; this is done by jerking the upper part of 
the body forward when in the act of letting go, to 
counterbalance the impetus acquired by the legs you 
must continue this practice (which is merely jumping 



90 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



off the platform with the assistance of the bar in your 
hands), and when you are well up in this movement, 
you may try the first fly from the first bar to the 
second, in the following manner : While standing on the 
platform (as in fig. 43) have the second bar set going 
with a moderate swing and when you see it at the dead 
point, at the end furthest from you, jump off as before 
and you will meet it midway between the two and you 
must content yourself, for the first few times, with 
merely touching it ; do not attempt at first to catch it, 

Fig. U. 




but accustom yourself to the nature of its swing, judg- 
ing by the eye the length of the arc described and the 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 91 

duration of the passage of the bar along it. Practice 
this for some time and when you feel confident enough 
let go and catch the other bar, and at the same instant 
jerk yourself well forward (as in fig. 44) and the effect 
will be, that should you miss the second bar, you will 
simply drop on to your feet. 

The next feat that I should recommend you to attempt 
the accomplishment of will be the half pirouette. To 
do this start from the platform and catch the second bar 
(as just described), of course completing the swing on 
it and when you come to the end of the backward swing, 
the first bar will be just behind you in its corresponding 
movement. Now the feat is to describe a half turn, 
which you must do by drawing yourself well up and 
at the same time giving the shoulders and head a good 
twist round and seizing the first bar ; you will at first 
only be able to touch it and doing this you will send the 
bar and ropes swinging in all directions, but practice 
will soon enable you to grasp it in a proper manner with 
both hands and to repeat the feat several times without 
alighting. 

Another very easy and showy feat is callled the over- 
throw. To do this spring off the platform as before, but 
bring the body up supported by the arms, of course al- 
ways watch the time of the second bar and practice will 
soon enable you to hit the right moment. Now throw 
the first bar right over your head and drop on to the 
second (as in fig. 45). Practice this movement at first 
with only a little swing and merely throw the bar away 
from you and come on to the ground on to your feet. 
I have seen many beginners who were so over anxious 



92 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



to catch the second bar that they have only been able 
to take hold of it with one hand and the consequence 

Fig. 45. 




was that not having sufficient strength to support their 
weight with it they have come down in an awkward 
manner on the mattress or whatever was placed under- 
neath to break the fall. 

* Another pretty exercise is called the sitting fly, and 
is done thus : After starting as before, get over the bar 
into a sitting position. Now I am supposing you to be 
well up in the movements on the horizontal bar and 
therefore well able to manage this without further in- 
struction and the object is simply to drop off the first 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 93 

bar from a sitting position and to catch the second bar, 
and after one swing to alight on the mattress. You must 
commence to practice for this by sitting on the bar, 
and after a little swing springing off on to the ground, 
gradually increasing the height at which you come off 
till at last you swing high enough to come quite on to 
the second bar. 

Now I am going to give you something a little more 
difficult, as it is not much of a feat merely to pass from 
one bar to the other as you have done hitherto, and 
this difficult feat is called the flying leg swing. Start 
off the platform as before, but at the end of the swing, 
instead of letting go with your hands, hold on and throw 
your legs over the second bar, then let go the first bar 

Fig. 46. 




with the hands, giving it a good swing in doing so (to 
continue its motion), holding tightly with the bent part 
of the legs all through and swing until you come back 
again, and you will then be able to reach out again 
and take hold of the first bar again, which has by this 
time swung back again within your reach, now let go 



94 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

with the legs and you will swing back and by drawing 
yourself up come back on to the platform standing. This 
is rather a striking feat and you must be able to hang 
well with your legs to do it in a good style ; but even 
supposing you should make a slip (you may be a little 
tired from over practice), you must open the legs and 
turn out the toes and letting yourself slide down you 
will find your feet caught by the bar and ropes and 
yourself in a hanging position ; this is a very simple 
feat and if you have proper boots on the ropes will 
not hurt you in the least. 

We now come to the flying jump and it is done in 
this way ; start from the platform and throw your legs 
over as before and let go with the hands, and when at 
the end of the swing let go also with the legs, throwing 
the arms and head up and you will come neatly over 
on to the ground on to your feet. If you have practiced 
the half fall back on the horizontal bar you will not 
find any difficulty in this. When you first begin have 
some one ready to catch you in case you should hold 
on to the bar too long. 

We now come to what is called the leg fly, and is 
almost the same as the flying jump, only that instead of 
coming on to the ground you catch the second bar. To 
do this, start from the platform as for the ordinary fly, 
but instead of letting go the bar in order to catch the 
second, retain your hold and gradually draw yourself 
up until you are high enough to get your legs right 
up and hook them over the bar, outside your arms, one 
on each side. If you have mastered this movement on 
the horizontal bar, you will not find it difficult, but if 



HOW TQ JOIN A CIRCUS. 



95 



you are a novice in gymnastics, it will be of no use 
attempting the flying trapeze at all. ( By the time you 

Fig. 47. 




have accomplished this you will have completed the 
first forward swing and be returning with you face 
toward the platform, but when you arrive for the second 
time at the end of the swing, the second bar (which 
has been set in motion and is swinging in unison with 
you,) will be just behind you, so that, if you let go 
with your hands and stretch out your arms, and turn- 
ing as in the dotted lines (in fig. 47) it will just come 
into your hands, that is, if you have swung in correct 
time with it, and having been left to itself it is sure 
to be right. 

Now I am going to set you a task that will frighten 
you, the backward flying jump. This is performed off 
the second bar, and in a direction away from the first, 



96 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

so that there shall be no chance of your toes catching 
upon it. Now your position upon the bar is the same 
as in the first position of the leg fly, but instead of let- 
ting go now, you wait until you are at the other end 
of the swing and then let go suddenly, throwing the 
head and arms back and a jerk will ensue which will 
turn you over and throw you completely oq to your feet. 
Although this appears so difficult, I consider it one of 
the easiest movements on the trapeze, and the higher 
you swing the better you will be able to accomplish it. 
you must commence the practice of this feat by trying 
it while the bar is hanging quietly down and the lunge 
(previously described) may be used with advantage or 
you may get some one to hold your hands as you hang 
down, until you can do it by yourself. After you are 
able to manage this movement on the hanging bar^ 
begin with a little swing, gradually increasing it as 
before, until you have confidence to throw yourself off 
at the full height. This feat has a splendid effect 
when done in a finished style and Leotard always wound 
up his performance with it, but instead of coming off 
as you would at first with a little swing, of course he 
made a much more showy affair of it and threw him- 
self off when the ropes were almost in a horizontal posi- 
tion, and after making a graceful curve in the air, 
came down in an easy and elegant attitude, which 
showed the great master. This movement you will 
find much easier than it looks, and when you can 
make a certainty of coming off when the bar has a 
little swing do not be afraid of increasing the movement, 
as you will find that as you swing higher it is actually 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCCS. 



97 



easier and particularly if you are at all good at somer- 
sault movements. 

I now come to a very pretty movement with which 
I shall conclude my remarks on the flying trapeze, and 
this is the flying somersault, which is the same as the 
cutaway from the horizontal bar (as before described), 
but is much easier as well as more showy, but the 

Fig. 48. 




Wm 



difficulty is to make up your mind, , the first time, to 
let go the bar, but, as in the last exercise the higher 
you go the easier you will find it — in fact it cannot be 
done without a good swing. It is best to have the 
second bar hauled away and fastened or held on one 



98 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 

side when you commence the practice of this feat. 
Start off the platform as before and when you are at 
the end of the swing, draw your legs up in front of 
you ; now let go and throw the arms and head back 
and the chest out all in one movement, which will 
give you sufficient turn to bring you right on to your 
feet ; fig. 48 shows the position you are in just after 
letting go and the way in which you come down, and 
the dotted lines indicate the curves described by the 
hands and feet in the movement. It is requisite in 
first practicing this to have two assistants in case you 
do not get sufficient turn, and are likely to come down 
awkwardly. They stand one on each side, ready to 
give you a "pat" or lift of strength, sufficient to bring 
you up standing. 

In concluding let me say that it is not very difficult 
to perform these beautiful feats, but of course you must 
be well up in advanced gymnastics and if you can throw 
a decent somersault you will find no difficulty in them 
whatever ; but still you may succeed on the trapeze 
without being able to throw a somersault, the principal 
requisite being courage or a kind of " dash." Do not 
be nervous, but go at it with determination and you 
will succeed, but if you are thinking of letting go in 
the wrong place or of holding on too long, you arc 
sure to do one or the other and fail. But say to your- 
self with decision, ' I must let go at the end of the swing 
and throw my head and arms well back,' and you are 
safe to make your somersault. The power of concen- 
tration is invaluable, and in fact, almost indispensable 
in performing these feats, and you must take care 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 99 

never to attempt any new exercise, unless in good form 
and in sound health, mind and body. But you will find 
that the first time is generally the most difficult and 
after mastering any of these showy exercises once, you 
can always do them, but as I have just said, if you are 
tired or out of sorts either bodily or mentally you must 
not practice these kind of exercises. 

Having now gone through all the most important 
feats and shown you as much as it is possible to do 
by mere description and illustration, the rest depends 
on your own perseverance, feeling sure that whatever 
efforts you may make will be amply rewarded by the 
beneficial results experienced. 



CHAPTER X. 



HORSEBACK RIDING. 



The art of riding bare back or on a "pad," as it 
is called, being a very broad padded saddle that the 
performer stands up on to accomplish his or her won- 
derful feats of pirouettes and somersaults, is now ac- 
complished very easily, merely requiring a previous 
knowledge of gymnastics, and plenty of time for prac- 
tice and success must follow. Now in the training of 
pupils for the circus ring by systematic professionals 
injuries are never inflicted, even in teaching them to 



100 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



ride, an ingenious appliance known as the " mechanic " 
precludes the possibility of dangerous falls. 

The " mechanic " was invented by Mr. S. Q. Stokes, 
the man who brought out the great rider, Ella Zoyara, 
and is simply a strongly braced arm standing out from 

Fig. 49. 




the centre pole at right angles with it and so arranged 
that it can easily be moved around at any rate of speed 
desired. Through a little pulley block at the extrem- 
ity of this arm a rope is run, at one end of this rope 
is a stout snap hook which is fastened either to a belt 
about the pupil's waist or to a " harness, " something 
like a combination of suspenders, braces and belt, which 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 101 

some pupils prefer to wear. The other end of the 
rope is held by the teacher. Thus prepared the pupil 
is mounted on a pad, the broad flat saddle, on a horse 
and started moving around the ring. The rope dangles 
loosely overhead, while the pupil practices balancing, 
turning, dancing, jumping, &c, &c, and when somer- 
saults are to be attempted is drawn off to one side by 
a thin line attached to it, so as to be out of the way, 
but the instant the pupil loses balance, stumbles or in 
any way is about to fall, the quick eye of the teacher 
detects the danger and his strong hand pulling on the 
rope swings the pupil in the air, while the horse goes 
galloping on. * 

It is hardly necessary to tell you that there are some 
simple rules to be observed in practicing. One is; - never 
overtire yourself by practicing too long as that will do 
more harm than good and be careful not to get into 
a heat, without having a wrapper handy to put on 
when you leave off. And do not practice after a full 
meal. But these obvious considerations will present 
themselves. 

Dress must also be suitable, as it is highly impor- 
tant to have all the limbs free and unfettered and there- 
fore light and loose garments, and gymnastic shoes 
should be worn. A belt may be used by those who 
require it, but it is not indispensable 



102 HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

APPENDIX. 

As an appendix to this work, I have attached an 
old copy of an agreement for the guidance of young 
gymnasts that they may know how contracts are made 
with managers of circuses. 

Girakd, Pa., April 1st., 1863. 

Articles of agreement made and entered into this day, 
between Dan Rice, Manager, party of the first part, 
and Tony Denier, Artist, party of the second part. 

Said Dan Rice engages said Tony Denier for a sea- 
son of thirty weeks, commencing on or about Monday, 
April 1st, at a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars 
($250) per week, also board, washing and all travelling 
expenses, the above mentioned sum to be paid said 
Tony Denier each and every week during the contin- 
uance of this agreement. Said Tony Denier in con- 
sideration of the above, promises to give his services 
as hereinafter specified to the said Dan Rice, perform- 
ing semi-daily, except Sundays, during the term of this 
agreement. 

Said Tony Denier hereby agrees to give his ser- 
vices as Clown, Pantomimist, tight rope and wire walk- 
er, trapeze, tumbling and horizontal bar perrfomer, prin- 
cipal and scenic rider, object holder and to make himself 
generally useful during time specified above, at said 
salary of two hundred and fifty dollars per week, board, 
washing and all travelling expenses. 



HOW TO JOIN A CIRCUS, 



103 



Said party of first part further agreeing to furnish 
said party of second part with one or two horses every 
morning of each week for rehearsals of his new act of 
equitation. 

Signed, sealed and delivered this the First day of 
April, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-three, in the City 
of Girard, State of Pennsylvania, in the presence of 



Witnesses for Dan Rice, 

£8. ) 



R. E. J. Miles. 
Burr Bobbins, 



DAN RICE. 




Witnesses for Tony Denier, 

P. T. Barkum. ) 
Yankee Robinson. > 



TONY DENIER, 




ARNOLD'S 

Dialogues, Plays and Speeches. 



A collection of short Dramatic Sketches, Witty and Sparkling Dialogues, and a 
variety of Pathetic, Serious and Comic Speeches. Designed for the use of schools, 
social gatherings and evening parties, by Andre Aknold. 

CONTENTS. 

Dialogues: 

Mrs. Sniffles' Confession.— 1 Male and 
1 Female character. 

The French Cook. — 2 Male characters. 

Examination Day at the Seminary. — 11 
Female characters. 

Fashionable Requirements.— 3 Female 
characters. 

The Poet Under Difficulties.— 5 Male 
characters. 

The Goddess of Folly.— 12 Female char- 
acters. 

The Light of Love. — 2 Male characters^ 

The Debating Club.-^-4 Male charac- 
ters. 

The Fox and the\Ranger.— 2 Male char- 
acters. 
Plays: 
A Noble Vagabond. — A Sketch in 1 Act. 

2 Male characters. Costumes, Spanish. 

Scene, simple. Time in representation, 

fifteen minutes. 
The Three Men of Science. — A Comic 

Sketch in 1 Act. 4 Male characters. 

Costumes and scenes easy. Time in 

representation, thirty minutes. This is 

a very laughable piece, and cannot fail 

to " bring down the house." 

Slighted Treasures. — A Petite Come- 
dy in 1 Act. 4 Female characters. Cos- 
tumes, modern. Scenery, plain. Time 

in representation, forty -five minutes. 
The Harvest Storm. — A Domestic 

Drama in 1 Act. 10 Male characters. 

Costumes, modern. Scene, simple. Time 

in representation, forty minutes. 
A Silent Woman. — Comedietta in 1 

Act. 1 Male and 1 Female character. 

Costumes, modern. Scene, a drawing- 
room. Time in representation, twenty 

minutes. 

Furnished Apartments. — A Comic 

Interlude in 1 Act. 5 Male characters. 

Costumes and scenery easy. Time in 

representation, fifty minutes. 

Tact and Fact. — A Comic Sketch in 

1 Scene. 1 Male and 1 Female charac- 



ter. Costumes, modern. Scene, a draw- 
ing-room. Time in representation, 
fifteen minutes. 

The Babes in the Wood; or, The Fe- 
rocious Uncle and the Avenging Robins. 
— A Domestic Tragedy in 1 Act. 7 
Male characters. Costumes and scen- 
ery easy. Time in representation, thirty 
minutes. 

Too Attentive by Half.— A Comic 
Sketch in 1 Act. 2 Male and 1 Femalo 
character. Costumes, modern. Scene, 
a handsomely furnished apartment. 
Time in representation, thirty minutes. 

Decidedly Cool. — A Comic Sketch in 
1 Act. 2 Male and 1 Female character. 
Costumes, modern. Scene, simple. Time 
in representation, twenty minutes. 

Killing Time. — A Comedietta in 1 Act. 
1 Male and 1 Female character. Cos- 
tumes, modern. Scene, an elegant apart- 
ment. Time in representation, twenty- 
five minutes. 

Speeches: 
Rory O' Moore's Present to the Priest. 
The Widow Bedott's Letter to Elder 

Sniffles. 
The Yankee Landlord. 
Lord Dundreary's Riddle. 
Antony and Cleopatra. 
Lecture on Bad Boys. ; 
Hezekiah Stubbins' Oration, July 4th. 
Old Sugar's Courtship. 
Mr. Caudle Wants a M Latch-Key." 
A Mother to Her Boy. 
The Falls of Lodore. 
The Battle of Ivry. 
" All We Ask is to be Let Alone." 
The Two Roads. 
Custer's Last Charge. 
Spartacus to the Gladiators at Capua. 
Josh Billings on Courting. 
The Three Warnings. 
The Debating Society. 
Jimmy Butler and the Owl. 
Aurelia's Unfortunate Young Man. 
A Showman on the Woodchuck. 



1 Volume, Neat Paper Covers. Price 30 eta, 

Bound in Cloth. Price 50 cts, 

Sent by mail, on receipt of the price, by 

HAPPY HOURS COMPANY, Publishers, 

No. 1 Chambers Street, New Yorl*. 



MINSTREL GAGS 
And End-Men's Hand-BooK 



Containing some of the best jokes and repartees of the most celebrated " burnt 
cork " performers of our day. Bones and Tambo in all sorts and manner of 
scrapes. Also, containing a rich collection of Ballads, humorous and pathetic, 
Ethiopian Dialogues, Sketches, Plantation Scenes, Eccentric Doings, Humorous 
Lectures, Laughable Interludes, Huge Africanisms, Burlesque Speeches, Mirth- 
provoking "Witticisms, Conundrums, Yarns, Plantation Songs and Dances, etc., 
etc. In short, a complete Hand-Book o+* Burnt Cork Drollery, which will be 
found alike useful to the professional and amateur. 

COXTEKTS. 



A Bird that Can't be Plucked. 

Annihilating Time and Space. 

Beautiful Isle of the Tropical Sea. 

Bet, The. 

Big Fortune, A. 

Blackberry in g. 

Bones and* his Little Game. 

Boues and the Monkey Tricks. 

Bones as a Fortune Teller. 

Bones as a Legitimate Actor. 

Bones as a Prize Fighter. 

Bones as a " Student in de Expensary." 

Bones as a "Walkist. 

Bones assists at the Performance of a 

New Piece. 
Bones Attends a Spiritual Seance. 
Bones gets Stuck. 
Bones in Love. 

Bones keeps a Boarding-House. 
Bones on George Washington. 
Bones on the Light Fantastic. 
Bones Plays O'Fella. 
Bones sees a Ghost. 
Bones 'Slopes with Suker Sly* 
Bones tells a " Fly" Story. 
Brudder Bones as an Inkslinger. 
Brudder Bones in a New Character. 
Brudder Bones' Love Scrape. 
Chestnut Tree, The. 
"Collud"Ball, The. 
Conundrums. 
Dancing Mad. 

Dat's What I'd Like to know. 
Do Mudder of Inwention. 
Difference, The. 
'• Far Away in Alabam'." 
Four-Eleven-Forty-Four. 
Four Meetings, The. 



From de Poiks. 

Gal from Lackawanna, The. 

Girl at the Sewing Machine, The. 

" Go "Work for Your Libin'." 

Hannah Jane and Me. 

How Bones Became a Minstrel. 

How Tambo look his Bitters. 

Impulsive Oration. 

Jeallusest of Her Sect. 

Legal Problem, A. 

Liberal Discount for Cash. 

Manager in a Fix, The. 

Mathematics. 

Merry Life, A. 

Momentous Question. 

Mosquitoes. 

Notes. 

Ob Course. 

Pomp and Ephy Green. 

Presidency on de Brain. 

Proposed Increase of Taxes. 

Railroad Catastrophe. 

Ring, Ring de Banjo. 

Rough on Tambo. 

School's In. 

Shakspearo with a Vengeance. 

Simple Sum in Arithmetic. 

Tarn bo's Traveling Agent. 

The Pervisions, Josiar. 

Thieves. 

Tonsorial. 

Toast, A. 

Uncle Eph's Lament. 

"Waiting to See Him 05. 

"Way Down in Georgia 'Fo' de WV. 

"Western Serenade. 

You Bet. 

Etc., Etc., Etc. 



PRICE 30 CENTS. 
Sent by mail, on receipt of the price, by 

HAPPY HOURS COMPANY, Publishers, 

No. 1 Chambers Street, New York. 



DARKY PLAYS. 



A collection of Ethiopian Dramas, Farces, Interludes, Burlesque Operas, Ec- 
centricities. Extravaganzas, Comicalities, Whimsicalities, etc., etc. As played 
by the principal "burnt-cork" performers all over the Union. In Sis Parts. 
16mo. Illuminated paper coyer. 

CONTEXTS OP EACH PART. 



Part I.— Deaf— In a Horn; 1 Scene. 
2 Male characters. — Desdemonum; 3 
Scenes. 6 Male, 1 Female character. — 
De Trouble Begins at Nine; 1 Scene. 2 
Male characters. — Challenge Dance; 1 
Scene. 3 Male characters. — Mishaps of 
Ccesar Cram; 3 Scenes. 3 Male, 2 Fe- 
male characters. — New Tear's Calls; 5 
Scenes. 5 Male, 2 Female characters.— 
Nobody's Son; 1 Scene. 2 Male charac- 
ters. — Scipio Africanus; 3 Scenes. 3 
ilale, 1 Female character.— Scenes at 
Gurney's {Scenes in the Studio); 1 
Scene. 3 Male characters. — 16,000 
Tears Ago; 1 Scene. 3 Male characters. 
— Dancing Mad; 1 Scene. 6 Male, 1 
Female character. 

Part II.— The Coopers; 1 Scene. 6 
Male, 1 Female character.— Jolly Mil- 
lers; 1 Scene. 3 Male, 1 Female char- 
acter. — Mischievous Nigger; 1 Scene. 

4 Male, 2 Female characters. — Sham 
Doctor; 3 Scenes. 4/Male, 2 Female char- 
acters. — Virginia Mummy; 4 Scenes. 
6 Male, 1 Female character. — Fighting 
for the Union; 3 Scenes. 4 Male, 2 Fe- 
male characters. — Dixie; 1 Scene. 3 
Male, 1 Female character. 

Part HX— Ticket- Taker; 1 Scene. 5 
Male characters. — Uncle Jeff; 5 Scenes. 

5 Male, 2 Female characters. — Black 
Shoemaker; 1 Scene. 4 Male, 2 Female 
characters. — Rooms to Let; 1 Scene 2 
Male, 1 Female character. — Troublesome 
Servant; 1 Scene. 2 Male characters. 
— Oh, Hush! 3 Scenes. 4 Male, 1 Fe- 
male character.— Quack Doctor; 1 Scene. 
4 Male, 1 Female character.— Darky 
Tragedian; 1 Scene. 2 Male charac- 
ters. 

Part r7.— Three Black Smiths; 1 



Scene. 3 Male characters.— Great Ar- 
rival; 1 Scene. 3 Male characters. — 
Les Miser ables (Unhappy Pair); 1 
Scene. 3 Male characters. — Hop of 
Fashion; 2 Scenes. 5 Male, 2 Female 
characters.— The Wreck; 1 Scene. 4 
Male, 2 Female characters.— Da t Same 
Old Coon ; 2 Scenes. 4 Male, 2 Female 
characters. — De Maid ob de Hunkpun- 
cas; 1 Scene. 2 Male characters. — Bones 
at a Baffle; 2 Scenes. 3 Male charac- 
ters.— An Elephant on Ice; 1 Scene. 2 
Male characters. 

Part V. — Magic Fenny; 3 Scenes. 6 
Male, 1 Female character. — Vilikens 
and Dinah; 1 Scene. 4 Male, 1 Female 
character. — Old Hunks; 1 Scene. 3 
Male characters.— Highest Price for Old 
Clothes; 1 Scene. 3 Male character*^- 
Stage-Struck Darky; 1 Scene. 2 Male, 

1 Female character. — Black Crook Bur- 
lesque; 2 Scenes. 7 Male, 2 Female 
characters. — Turkeys in Season; 2 
Scenes. 3 Male characters. — Old Dad's 
Cabin; 1 Scene. 2 Male, 2 Female 
characters.— A unt y Chloe; 1 Scene. 1 
Male, 1 Female character. 

Part YI.— Bone Squash; 8 Scenes. 9 
Male, 3 Female characters.— The Black 
Statue; 1 Scene. 4 Male, 2 Female char- 
acters. — Mazeppa; 2 Scenes. 7 Male, 2 
Female characters. — Jack's the Lad; 6 
Scenes. 7 Male, 2 Female characters. — 
Feast; 1 Scene. 4 Male, 2 Female char- 
acters. — The Hypochondriac; 2 Scenes. 

2 Male characters. — The Actor and the 
Singer; 1 Scene. 4 Male characters. — 
Shylock; 3 Scenes. 5 Male, 2 Female 
characters. — Old Uncle Billy; 1 Scene. 
2 Male, 1 Female character. 



PRICE, EACH PART, 30 CENTS. 

Sent by mail, on receipt of the price, by 

HAPPY HOURS COMPANY, Publishers, 

No. 1 Chambers Street, New York, 



LITTLE PLAYS FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. 



A series of favorite Tales of childhood, arranged in a dramatic form for home 
performance, school exhibitions, etc. "With full directions as regards manage- 
ment of costumes, scenery, etc. 

CONTENTS. 



Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. — 
A Drama of ups and downs, for young 
ladies and gentlemen, in 2 Acts. 6 Male 
and 3 Female characters. Mandarin, 
ladies in waiting, ^ maids of honor, 
ushers, guards, gamins, etc. Costumes 
elaborate. Scenes, interiors and exteri- 
ors. Time of representation, one hour. 

Blue Beard; or, Female Curiosity. — 
A Sensation Drama in 2 Acts. 6 Male 
and 2 Female characters. Costumes, 
Turkish. Scene, a room in Blue Beard's 
castle. Time of representation, thirty 
minutes. 

Frog Prince (The).— A. Fairy Play in 
1 Act. 2 Male and 1 Female character. 
Costumes, doublet, hose, puffed breech- 
es, Spanish cloak, regal roDes, long man- 
tle and train, etc. Scene, a wood and 
apartment in a palace. Time of repre 
sentation, twenty minutes. 

Jack the Giant Killer. — A Fairy Play 
in 1 Act. 4 Male and 3 Female charac- 
ters. Costumes, Knickerbocker suit, 
cap and^feathers, short coat, cap, etc., 
for Jack, any grotesque dress for 
Giant, neglige dress for ladies. Scene, 
a plain room. Time of representation, 
twenty minutes. 

Little Bed Biding Hood,— A. Fairy 
Play in 1 Act. 3 Male and 3 Female 



characters. Costumes, wolf's mask, 
tunic, short wide trousers, long boots, 
mob cap, quilted petticoat, etc. Scene, 
interior and exterior of cottage. Time 
of representation, twenty-five minutes. 

Little Silver Hair and the Three 
Bears.— A. Pastoral Drama in 1 Act. 2 
Male and 2 Female characters. Cos- 
tumes, bear's head mask, top boot*, 
flowered waistcoat, "girl of the period " 
dress, little girl's dress. Scene, wood 
and interior ot cottage. Time of repre- 
sentation, fifteen minutes. 

Loves of Little Bo-Beei (The).— In 1 
Act. 5 Male and 4 Female characters. 
Costumes, square-cut coats, knee- 
breeches, flowered waistcoats, silk 
stockings, shoes and buckles, farmer's 
dress, flowered gown, quilted petticoats, 
traveling dress, shepherdess' hat and 
ribbons, etc. Scenes, "kitchen and a field. 
Time of representation, forty minutes. 

Bobin Hood; or, The Merry Men oj 
Sherwood Forest. — A Sylvan Drama in 
2 Acts. 11 Male and 3 'Female charac- 
ters. Costumes, tunic, armor, tights, 
russet boots, bishop's dress, monk's 
dress, crown, dresses trimmed with er- 
mine, etc. Scenes, a forest, a grand 
halL Time of representation, forty-five 
minutes. 



This book contains full directions for producing the " elaborate scenery and cos- 
tumes " of the above plays in any parlor, at very little trouble and expense. 
PRICE 30 CENTS, 



HOW WE MANAGED OUR PRI7ATE THEATRICALS; 

Or, a Guide to the Amateur Stage. 

Containing plain directions for the construction and arrangement of the Stage, 
painting the Scenery, getting up the Costumes, making the Properties and Ac- 
cessories, Hints on Stage Effects, instructions for making Calcium Lights, etc., 
etc. Prepared for the use of schools, private families and dramatic clutis. 
CONTENTS IN PART. 



Introduction. Construction of a 
Stage. Proscenium and Auditorium. 
The Curtain and Drop. Lighting the 
Stage. Scenery and Scene Painting. 
Costumes, Properties and Accessories. 
Stage Effects, etc.. etc. 

Sixteen Descriptive Illustrations and Diagrams 

PRICE 25 CENTS 



Penelope Anne— A Musical Farce 
in 1 Act. 4 Male, 1 Female character. 
Costumes and Properties easy. Scene, 
Public Room in a small hotel on the 
Continent Time in representation, 
about thirty minutes. 



Either of the above will be sent by mail, on receipt of the price, by 
HAPPY HOURS COMPANY, Publishers,' 

No. 1 Chambers Street, New York, 



PARLOR AMUSEMENTS FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS. 



Designed for the use of Schools, Church Societies, Home Amusement, etc., etc. 
By G. B. Baktlett. New edition. He vised and enlarged. Every one of the 
entertainments contained in this work have been tried before large audiences in 
hundreds of cities, under the personal supervision of the author, and they are now 
simplified and arranged for performance oy old and young. 

CONTENTS. 



Yilikens and His Dinah, an Illustra- 
ted Ballad. 

Charades (fifteen different ones). 

Games of Thought. 

The Mental Index. 

Declamation, with Selections. 

Social Amusements, or, Full Directions 
for a Hall Entertainment and how to 
prepare it in any City or Village. 

Private Theatricals. 

List of Plays suitable for Private Per- 
formances. 



Hints on Tableaux. 
Scenes in the Life of Marie Stuart. 
Elaborate Tableaux. 
The Lily Maid of Astolat. 
Jarley Wax Works. 
The Babes in the Wood, a Pantomime. 
The Magic Mirror, a Vision. 
The Miser's Supper, a Pantomime. 
Love in Ambush, a Pantomime. 
The Sleeping Beauty, a Pantomime. 
Auld Robin Gray, an Illustrated Ballad. 
The Mistletoe Bough, an Illustrated 
Ballad. 

Neat Paper Covers. Price 30 cts. 

Bound in Cloth i> ~*r. 75 cts. 

Parlor TablS&tix ; or, Animated Pictures. 

For the use of Families, Schools and Public Exhibitions. By Toxy Dexter, 
author of " Tony Denier' s Parlor Pantomimes," " Amateur's Guide," " Shadow 
Pantomimes," etc. Containing about eighty popular subjects, with plain and ex- 
plicit directions for arranging the stage, dressing-rooms, lights, full description of 
costumes, duties of stage manager, properties and scenery required, and all the 
necessary directions for getting them up. Among the contents there are nino 
tableaux for male and an equal number for female characters only. A great num- 
ber of them introduce groups of boys and many more groups of girls only ; others 
again introducing both ; and still more in which entire classes can take part. 
Everything is stated in a plain, simple manner, so that it will be easily understood ; 
everything like style or unnecessary show has been avoided. Eor public or pri- 
vate entertainment, there is nothing which is so interesting and instructive as the 
tableau Price 2 5 c t « . 

Shadow Pantomimes ; or, Harlequin in the Shade. 

How to get them up and how to act in them ; with full and concise instruc- 
tions and numerous illustrations. Also, full and complete descriptions of proper- 
ties and costumes. 

CONTENTS. 



Base Ball; Regular Hash, or, The 
Boarding-House Conspiracy; The Me- 
chanical Statue; The African Serc- 
naders ; The Model Prize Fight ; The 
Magic Cask, or, The Industrious and 
Idle Apprentice; The Tragical Duel, 
or, The Comical Rivals; Old Dame 
Trot and Her Comical Cat. 



Introduction ; Shadow Bluff, or, Who's 
Who ? Tooth Drawing Extraordinary ; 
Amputation like Winking ; The Haunt- 
ed House; We Won't Go Home till 
Morning; Jocko, or the Mischievous 
Monkey; The Madcap Barber; Crib- 
bage, or, The DenHimong the Cards; 
The Lover's Stratagem; The Game of 

It has been the aim of the author to provide harmless home amusement for old 
and young, excluding everything objectionable to sound morality and good Uome- 
training. By Tony Denier, Pantomimist, author of " Tony Denier's Parlor Pan- 
tomimes," *' Parlor Tableaux," " Amateur's Guide," etc. Price, ...... ,35 cts. 

Either of the above sent by mail, on receipt of the price, by 

HAPPY HOURS COMPANY, Publishers, 

No, 1 Chambers Street, New York* 



EVEEY BOY HIS OWN" MANUFACTUBEK. 

Containing instructions in Carpentry, Turning, Boat building, and 
Glass Blowing, with full instructions how to make Su nn Engines, 
Locomotive Engines, Electric Telegraphs, Steamboats, Dioramas, 
Clocks, Brackets, Telescopes, etc. Profusely illustrated. Five Parts. 

CONTENTS OF. EACH PAST. 

Part 1. Carpentry, 33 Illustrations. Turning in Wood and Ivory, 
18 Illustrations. How to make a Steam Engine, 2 Illustrations. 

Part 2. How to make a Locomotive Engine, 18 Illustrations. How 
to make a Model Steamboat, 4 Illustrations. How to make a Steam 
Cylinder, 6 Illustrations. How to make a Cheap Bowing Boat, 5 
Illustrations. 

Part 3. How to make Paddle Wheels for a small boat, 5 Illustra- 
tions. How to make a Screw Propeller for a small boat, 3 Illustra- 
tions. How to make a Hydraulic Propeller for a small boat, 7 Illus- 
trations. How to- build a Cheap Canoe, 5 Illustrations. How to 
make and work an Electric Telegraph, 6 Illustrations. How to make 
a cheap Vertical Drilling Machine, 2 Illustrations. How to make a 
Simple Galvanic Battery. How to make a Diorama, 2 Illustrations. 
How to make a clock for twenty-five cents, 4 Illustrations. Home- 
made Brackets, 6 Illustrations. Hanging Portfolio, 1 Hlustration. 
Parisian Whatnot, 1 Illustration. How to make Balloons. Gilding 
on Glass. 

Part 4. How to make a Calcium Light, 2 Illustrations. Art of 
making Fire- works, 8 Illustrations. How to make a Magic Lantern, 
and paint the Slides. How to make an Aquarium, 3 Illustrations. 
How to make an Achromatic Telescope, 2 Illustrations. Glass Blow- 
ing for Boys, 2 Illustrations. 

Part 5. Electrotyping — Electricity; simple, cheap apparatus; 
Moulds ; Solutions ; to make a Medallion ; Zinc ; Copper ; Circuits ; 
Our Experiment ; Positive 5 Negative ; Action of the Acids ; Various 
Batteries ; Weights Deposited ; the Lead Tree; Quantity ; Intensity; 
Arrangement of Cells ; Uses of Electricity ; Elastic Moulds ; Copying 
of Busts or Statuettes ; to prepare the Moulds ; the Soluble Mould ; 
a Better Plan ; a Cast in Plaster ; a Cast in Wax ; to prepare the 
Figure ; the Copper Mould ; divided Moulds ; Electro Deposits for 
Natural Objects — 21 Illustrations. 

Price, 25 cents per part, or $1.00 the set. 

Sent by mail, on receipt of the price, by 

Happy Hours Company, Publishers, 

No. 1 CHAMBERS STREET, NEW YORK. 



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